As a business owner or marketing professional, you know that advertising is a crucial part of promoting your products or services. Specifically, for B2B marketing, two platforms that stand out are Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads.
With so many advertising platforms to choose from, it can be difficult to decide which one is right for your business. In this blog post, we’ll compare these two platforms and help you decide which one is the best choice for your B2B marketing efforts.
Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads are both popular platforms for B2B marketing, but they have their own unique features and benefits.
Google Ads is the world’s largest advertising platform and allows businesses to create targeted ads that appear in Google search results, as well as on websites that participate in the Google AdSense program.
LinkedIn Ads, on the other hand, is a platform specifically designed for B2B marketing, allowing businesses to target specific demographics and job titles, and to show their ads to people who work at specific companies. In the following sections, we’ll delve deeper into the differences between these two platforms and help you decide which one is right for your business.
What’s the difference between LinkedIn Ads and Google Ads?
There are several key differences between LinkedIn Ads and Google Ads that businesses should consider when deciding which platform to use for their B2B marketing efforts.
User Intent and Target Audiences
One of the main differences is the audience that each platform reaches. Google Ads can be seen by anyone who uses Google, which includes a wide range of people from various demographic groups and industries.
LinkedIn Ads are only shown to LinkedIn users, which means that they have a more professional and targeted audience. This makes LinkedIn Ads more effective for reaching a specific group of professionals, while Google Ads may be better for reaching a more general audience.
Another difference is the type of ads each platform allows you to create. Google Ads primarily consists of text-based ads, which appear in search results and on websites that participate in the AdSense program.
LinkedIn Ads, on the other hand, allows you to create various ad formats, including sponsored content, sponsored InMails, and display ads. This makes LinkedIn Ads more versatile and allows you to choose the ad format that best fits your marketing goals and target audience.
Ad Formats
LinkedIn Ads and Google Ads both offer a range of ad types that businesses can use to promote their products or services.
LinkedIn Ads offers the following ad types:
- Sponsored content: These are posts that appear in the news feed and are marked as “sponsored.” Sponsored content can be used to promote your products or services, or to provide valuable information to your target audience.
- Sponsored InMails: These are private messages that are sent directly to a user’s inbox. Sponsored InMails can be used to promote your products or services or to follow up with leads.
- Display ads: These are ads that appear on the right-hand side of the screen, on profile pages, or in search results. Display ads can be used to promote your products or services or to raise awareness of your brand.
Google Ads offers the following ad types:
- Text ads: These are the most common type of Google Ads, and they consist of a headline, two lines of text, and a display URL. Text ads appear in search results and on websites that participate in the AdSense program.
- Display ads: These are ads that appear on websites that participate in the AdSense program. Display ads can include images, videos, and other types of media, and they can be used to promote your products or services or to raise awareness of your brand.
- Video ads: These are ads that appear on YouTube and other video-sharing websites. Video ads can be used to promote your products or services or to raise awareness of your brand.
- App-Install ads: These are ads that appear in the Google Play Store and are used to promote mobile apps.
- Overall, LinkedIn Ads offers more diverse ad types compared to Google Ads, which primarily offers text and display ads. The best choice for your business will depend on your specific marketing goals and target audience.
Reporting and Analytics:
LinkedIn Ads provides detailed analytics and reporting on the performance of your campaigns, including data on impressions, clicks, conversions, and costs.
Google Ads also provides detailed analytics and reporting on the performance of your campaigns, including data on impressions, clicks, conversions, and costs.
User Demographics:
LinkedIn Ads allows you to target specific demographics, job titles, and companies, which makes it more effective for targeting specific groups of professionals.
Google Ads allows you to target specific keywords, locations, languages, and devices, which makes it more effective for reaching a wider audience.
Conversion Tracking:
LinkedIn Ads allows you to track conversions using a conversion tracking pixel, which you can install on your website.
Google Ads allows you to track conversions using a conversion tracking code, which you can install on your website or use with Google Analytics.
Pricing:
LinkedIn Ads is a pay-per-click platform, which means that you’ll only pay when someone clicks on your ad. You can also choose to pay on a cost-per-impression basis, which means that you’ll pay a certain amount every time your ad is shown to a certain number of people.
Google Ads is also a pay-per-click platform, and you can choose to pay on a cost-per-click or cost-per-thousand-impressions basis.
A Final Word
So, which platform is better for B2B marketing? It really depends on your specific goals and target audience. If you’re trying to reach a broad audience of professionals,
LinkedIn Ads may be a better choice. However, if you’re targeting a specific group of professionals or trying to drive traffic to your website, Google Ads may be the way to go.
Ultimately, the best platform for your business will depend on your specific goals and target audience. Both Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads can be effective for B2B marketing, and it may be worth testing out both platforms to see which one works best for you.
