It's one of the most common questions we get, and it usually arrives in roughly this form : "We've got a bit of money to spend on advertising - should we be on Facebook, Instagram or Google?" It's a fair question. It's also, unfortunately, slightly the wrong one, because it treats three quite different things as if they were interchangeable options on a menu.
They're not. They do different jobs, they reach people in different frames of mind, and picking between them isn't a matter of taste. So before you spend a penny, it's worth understanding what each one is actually for.
Google catches people who are already looking
The crucial thing about Google is that people go there with intent. Somebody typing "emergency plumber Leeds" into Google is not idly browsing. They have a burst pipe, they want it fixed, and they are actively looking for someone to ring right now. Your advert isn't interrupting them - it's answering a question they just asked.
This makes Google extraordinarily powerful for anything people go looking for. If your business solves a problem that sends people to a search bar - a leak, a legal question, a broken boiler, a car that won't start - then Google puts you in front of them at the exact moment they want you. The downside is that you're bidding against everyone else who wants that same moment, so it can get expensive, and it only works if people actually search for what you do.
Facebook and Instagram catch people who aren't
Facebook and Instagram work the other way round. Nobody opens Instagram looking to buy your product. They're there to see what their mates are up to, watch a few videos and waste twenty minutes. Your advert appears in the middle of that, uninvited.
That sounds like a weakness, and sometimes it is. But it's also a genuine strength, because it lets you reach people who would never have thought to search for you. It's how you create demand rather than just capture it. If you sell something people don't know they want - a service they've never considered, a product that solves a problem they've put up with for years - social media is where you plant that idea. You're not answering a question. You're getting them to ask one.
The difference between the two platforms is mostly about what you're selling and who to. Instagram is visual, younger on average, and rewards things that look good - food, interiors, clothes, anything you'd want to photograph. Facebook skews a little older and works well for local services and businesses whose customers are, frankly, the people who still use Facebook. Plenty of businesses run on both, because the ad system behind them is the same and it's little extra effort.
So which one?
The honest answer is that it depends entirely on how people come to need what you sell. Ask yourself one question : when somebody becomes your customer, did they go looking for you, or did they need reminding you existed?
If they typically already know they have the problem and are hunting for a solution, start with Google. You'll be catching people at the bottom of the decision, wallet half out, and that's the cheapest customer to win. If instead your challenge is that people don't realise they need you - or don't think about you until you're in front of them - then Facebook and Instagram are where you make that happen.
Most established businesses, if we're honest, eventually want a bit of both. Search to catch the people already looking, social to keep topping up the pool of people who might look later. But you don't have to start with everything at once, and you probably shouldn't. Pick the one that matches how your customers actually behave, do it properly, learn what works, and expand from there.
The mistake to avoid
Whatever you choose, the real mistake isn't picking the "wrong" platform - it's spreading a small budget so thinly across all three that none of them ever gets enough to work. Fifty pounds on Google, fifty on Facebook and fifty on Instagram doesn't give you three little advertising campaigns. It gives you three experiments too underfunded to tell you anything, and a general sense that advertising doesn't work.
Better by far to put the whole lot behind one channel, give it a proper run, and find out whether it delivers. You can always add the others once you've got something working - and by then you'll be adding them with actual evidence rather than a hunch.
If you're weighing this up and not sure which way to jump, we're always happy to look at your particular situation and give you a straight answer.