Online Ads Playbook: Google vs Meta vs TikTok

The ability to reach potential customers online is now indispensable. And for many businesses, online advertising is crucial in helping them reach their target audiences and achieving marketing goals.

Among all online ad platforms, three platforms stand out: Meta (Facebook & Instagram), Google, and TikTok. Each with their features, capabilities, and ad formats. So it is important for advertisers to understand their strengths and limitations.

After years of online advertising experience, I've made some essential starter strategies to quickly drive online campaign results. One of them is a ‘cheat sheet’ on how I usually promote new product or go into new market with those platforms.

In this post I’ll share how Meta, Google, and TikTok works, and how advertisers can start working with them. 🚀

Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram)

• Capabilities:

  • Highly targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram.

  • Ad placements include feed, stories, and audience network.

• Targeting:

  • Deterministic targeting using explicit user-provided data (profiles, interests, behaviors, platform interactions, etc).

  • Target audiences based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and actions like website visits or engagement with previous ads. Meta's audience tends to be more diverse and established across different age groups.

• Features: Offers various ad formats like image, video, carousel, slideshow, collection ads, and dynamic ads that are effective for showcasing products and driving users to take action.

• Advantages:

  • Extensive reach with over 3 billion monthly users.

  • Robust analytics and insights.

  • Allows for specific targeting and is effective for reaching niche audiences. This makes Meta more accessible to advertisers with smaller budgets.

• Disadvantages:

  • Rising ad costs due to competition.

  • Potential for user ad fatigue.

  • Accuracy depends on user-provided data which may not capture the full complexity of user behavior.

• Best Practices:

  • Ideal for precise targeting and engagement.

  • Effective for e-commerce, lead generation, and brand awareness.

  • Utilize A/B testing to optimize ad performance.

Google Ads (Display & Video)

• Capabilities:

  • Display ads reach over 90% of internet users.

  • Video ads on YouTube and partner sites.

• Targeting:

  • Probabilistic targeting using inferred data from user activities across Google platforms. Google collects data from users' searches, website visits, apps, and interactions with ads to infer their interests, intents, and demographics.

  • Predicts user preferences based on patterns and correlations.

  • Allows for scalable targeting and reaching broader audiences, but it may lack the precision of deterministic targeting and could result in ads being served to less relevant audiences.

• Features: Video ads can be skippable or non-skippable.

• Advantages:

  • Wide reach across millions of websites and YouTube channels and scalability.

  • Flexible budgeting options (pay-per-click or pay-per-impression).

• Disadvantages:

  • Banner fatigue can affect display ads.

  • Video ads need compelling content to capture attention.

  • Larger budget is required for effective targeting at scale. Advertisers with smaller budgets may find it challenging to compete in the competitive landscape.

• Best Practices:

  • Display ads for remarketing, brand awareness, and specific audiences.

  • Video ads for storytelling and driving conversions.

  • Regularly monitor and optimize campaigns.

Google Search Ads

• Capabilities: Text-based ads displayed on Google search results when users search for specific keywords.

• Targeting: Primarily intent-based, targeting users based on their search queries and the context of their search intent. Advertisers bid on specific keywords, and ads are displayed when users search for those keywords.

• Features: Ad extensions like sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets enhance ad visibility.

• Advantages:

  • Directly targets high-intent users.

  • Effective for driving immediate conversions.

• Disadvantages:

  • High competition for popular keywords leading to high bidding costs.

  • Limited space for ad copy and creativity.

• Best Practices:

  • Optimize ad copy, keywords, and bidding strategies to improve ad rank and click-through rates.

  • Regularly review search terms reports to refine targeting.

TikTok Ads

• Capabilities: Ads on TikTok include in-feed ads, branded effects, and sponsored hashtag challenges.

• Targeting:

  • Deterministic targeting using explicit user data, such as user profiles, interests, behaviors, and interactions on the platform.

  • Audience tends to be younger and more engaged with short-form video content.

• Features: Engaging ad formats with creative tools like music, filters, and effects.

• Advantages:

  • Access to a young and highly engaged audience, particularly Gen Z and Millennials.

  • TikTok’s strength lies more in brand awareness and engagement, with ad formats like in-feed ads, branded effects, and hashtag challenges.

  • Opportunities for viral reach and user-generated content.

• Disadvantages:

  • Limited targeting options compared to Meta and Google.

  • High competition for ad space.

  • May not be as effective for driving direct conversions for certain industries, such as highly technical products (B2B software, complex financial services, or niche technical products), healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and products/services that have longer sales cycle due to TikTok's fast-paced nature. That said, advertisers can still optimize conversions by leveraging compelling creatives, clear calls-to-action, and targeting relevant audience segments.

• Best Practices:

  • Ideal for creative, viral campaigns targeting younger demographics.

  • Leverage TikTok’s features and trends for authentic and engaging content.

  • Test different ad formats and targeting options to find what resonates best with your audience.

Other than ads, I’d like to also highlight one more fast-growing trend we cannot ignore, Live Shopping.

Live Shopping Trend

Both Meta and TikTok offers live feature, but they are not the same.

TikTok Live Shopping

TikTok Live Shopping, has gained popularity as a platform for real-time shopping experiences. Brands and creators can host live streams to showcase products, interact with viewers, and drive sales directly within the TikTok app.

Live shopping on TikTok leverages the platform's engaged user base and interactive features to create immersive shopping experiences that can lead to higher conversion rates.

Meta Live Shopping

While Meta offers features like Facebook Live and Instagram Live for live content, live shopping experiences are not as integrated compared to TikTok.

Meta has been experimenting with live shopping initiatives, but TikTok has emerged as a frontrunner in this space.

Summary

• Meta: Great for engagement and direct conversions with precise targeting.

• Google: Dominates search ads, capturing high-intent traffic for immediate actions.

• TikTok: Excels in brand awareness and engagement, especially among younger demographics.

Do note that by no means the above is the only way to work with those platforms. It is just some thoughts on how advertisers can start working with them.

After all, marketing shouldn’t be contained within a box.

Digital advertising landscape always evolves. What we have now will surely change in the future. So businesses must anticipate trends that could redefine how we connect with consumers.

Whether it's the rise of TikTok's live shopping or Google's intent-based targeting, one must ask: how will these platforms adapt to the demand for authenticity and engagement? And how will your advertising strategies evolve to meet these changes?