The short answer. Start with Google Ads when people already search for what you sell, because you meet demand that exists. Start with Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram) when they don't search for it yet but would want it on sight. Judge either one by cost per qualified lead and cost per sale, not by cost per lead.
"Should we run Google or Facebook ads?" is usually the first marketing question an owner asks, and the usual answer, "it depends", is true but useless. It depends on one thing more than anything else, and you can check it in five minutes.
The question that decides it
Do people already search for what you sell?
Type what your customer would type into Google: "physiotherapist near me", "IELTS coaching in Pune", "industrial RO plant supplier", "CRM software for real estate". If the results are full of ads and businesses like yours, the demand exists. Google Ads puts you in front of people at the moment they are looking.
If nobody would think to search for it (a new kind of product, an interior design style, a course they didn't know they needed), there is little demand to meet. Meta Ads can create it, by showing the offer to people who match your customer and letting the picture do the work.
When Google Ads should come first
- Customers search with a clear need: a service, a problem, a product category, a place.
- The need is urgent or high-value: repairs, healthcare, admissions, B2B supplies.
- You can answer quickly: the enquiry comes with intent, and intent cools fast.
- You have a page that answers the search directly, with a way to call or enquire.
When Meta Ads should come first
- The offer is visual or easy to want on sight: food, fashion, interiors, property walkthroughs, events.
- The category is new, so few people search for it by name.
- You want reach in an area or audience before they need you.
- You can produce creative regularly, because ads tire and need refreshing.
The two side by side
| Google Ads | Meta Ads | |
|---|---|---|
| What you meet | Existing demand: people searching | People who match your customer, before they search |
| What you mostly pay for | Clicks from searches | Reach, clicks or form fills from the feed |
| Typical lead | Fewer, with clearer intent | More, with mixed intent |
| What the ad needs | Keywords, a relevant page, tight negative keywords | Thumb-stopping creative, refreshed often |
| Common trap | Paying for broad searches that never buy | Instant forms so easy to fill that many leads never answer |
Meta's instant lead forms deserve a special warning. They let someone enquire without leaving the app, which is good for volume and bad for quality. Adding a question or two, or sending people to a short landing page, usually cuts the volume and raises the share who pick up the phone.
What about LinkedIn and X?
LinkedIn targets by job title, industry and company size, which makes it the strongest choice when your buyer is a specific role in a business. It typically costs more per click, so it pays when one customer is worth a lot.
X suits launches, announcements and reaching people who follow a topic. It is rarely the first channel for steady enquiries.
Judge by cost per qualified lead, not cost per lead
Cost per lead (CPL) is the number every ads dashboard shows, and it is the easiest one to make look good. A cheap lead who never answers is not cheap.
Track three numbers instead:
- Cost per lead: ad spend ÷ enquiries.
- Cost per qualified lead: ad spend ÷ enquiries that turned out to be real prospects (reachable, interested, able to buy).
- Cost per sale: ad spend ÷ customers won.
An illustration with round numbers. Campaign A brings leads at ₹200 each, but only one in ten qualifies: ₹2,000 per qualified lead. Campaign B costs ₹500 per lead, but one in two qualifies: ₹1,000 per qualified lead. The "expensive" campaign is half the price where it counts.
You can only see this if every lead's outcome is recorded somewhere, which is why ads and follow-up have to be built together. When closed sales are reported back to Google and Meta, the platforms also learn to find more people like your buyers rather than more form-fillers.
A sensible first 60 days
- Put most of the budget on the platform that matches your demand, and a smaller test on the other.
- Send traffic to one focused page per offer, with tracking on every enquiry.
- Answer every lead within minutes, and record its outcome.
- After 30 days, compare cost per qualified lead. After 60, compare cost per sale.
- Move budget toward what sells, not toward what fills forms.
Before you spend a rupee
- A page or form that answers what the ad promised.
- Tracking that records where each enquiry came from.
- Someone, or an AI agent, who replies within minutes.
- A place where every lead's outcome is written down. Run the lead leakage audit to check.
If any of these is missing, more ad spend buys more leaks. We set up all four as part of performance marketing, and build the funnel the ads point to.
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