Patience Hurlburt-LawtonThe short answer is yes.
According to our Meta Ads manager Jonathan Paquin, you should 100% be running ads on both platforms simultaneously.
You can watch the video to learn more or read on for a quick recap.
The two platforms complement each other.
How so? Because while Meta Ads may not be something users are proactively looking for, it does an excellent job of feeding your Google Ads campaigns. Often, when you run Meta Ads, you will have higher conversion rates on your Google Ads because Meta tends to drive the demand and discovery. Google, in turn, captures the intent and the search.
Jonathan recommends running both and adjusting your spend based on where you see the best results. For example, you can raise the budget on one and see how it impacts sales and performance on the other platform.
Is there a specific ratio to use for budget?
It always depends on the brand, of course, but Jonathan prefers to spend a little higher with Meta Ads to get more discovery, and also because Meta can help “close the loop” in some instances. He recommends a ratio of about 70%/60% Meta Ads to 30%/40% Google Ads.
How can you accurately measure which platform is driving sales?
Because in-platform metrics are often unreliable—for example, Meta Ads will tend to over-credit the view conversion while Google Ads focuses primarily on the last click and will often miss the early touchpoint—Jonathan recommends using a multi-touch attribution tool such as Triple Whale, Northbeam, or Wicked Reports. Having those blended metrics and also paying attention to your media efficiency ratio (MER) will give you a better picture of what is actually driving sales and where you should be allocating your budget.
Because these are paid tools, they may not work within the budgets of some small businesses. In that case, Jonathan recommends playing around with your ad spend budget to see how it impacts overall sales. You can raise or lower it on one platform versus the other for about a week or two to see if there is a direct impact.
Another option is to implement a post-purchase survey (there are simple apps you can use) to get feedback from your customers and gain insight into where they first remember seeing your brand.
Will Google Ads performance be affected if you stop running Meta Ads?
Most likely, yes.
Generally, what ends up happening is the performance on Google Ads will drop if you discontinue your Meta Ads campaigns. You will often see lower brand search volume and a higher cost per conversion, as well as slower growth in new customer acquisition—because Meta was driving the initial discovery.
Overall, running Meta Ads tends to benefit your Google Ads performance. However, if you have really strong cold acquisition with your Google Ads and think you no longer need Meta Ads, you can always test it out to see if you see a drop. But typically when Meta Ads are running properly, you will see a lift in performance in Google Ads, and if you stop, you should see a drop. That is almost always the case.
