PPC (pay-per-click) is a proven marketing strategy to attract new traffic to your company's website, drive lead generation and increase brand recognition.
Both Amazon PPC and Facebooks Ads harness this potential through their advertising systems. But as a marketer or business owner, which one is right for you?
In this blog, we dissect both PPC advertising platforms to equip you with the knowledge to make the right decision.
Amazon PPC
Amazon began allowing advertisers to start marketing their products in 2012, making it a young PPC system compared to Google and Facebook. But in recent times, Amazon’s advertising revenue has grown to 77% in consecutive years.
What is Amazon PPC?
Amazon PPC, otherwise known as ‘sponsored ads’, helps online sellers market their products. As with most PPC platforms, advertisers only pay Amazon when the user has clicked on the advertisement. This simply means when running an Amazon PPC campaign, you don’t have to pay for impressions.
If your Amazon PPC strategy is managed and optimised effectively, you can massively improve sales, conversions, and brand recognition.
How much does Amazon PPC cost?
The cost of Amazon PPC depends on a few factors, such as the type of ad, bids per keyword, and your daily ad budget. You can limit this budget to a maximum, so you never exceed that amount.
The Amazon PPC auction process works where each seller sets a default bid. So, if you have set your default bid at £2 while your competitors have set theirs at just £1, you will win the bid. But instead of paying £2, you’ll pay just a penny more than your competitor, so £1.01. It’s the same principle as making a bid on a product on eBay.
Brands should budget between £0.50 to £2 per bid. Depending on how many bids you have, you can estimate your daily budget.
Facebook Ads
Now for the other PPC and social media powerhouse. Facebook Ads have been seen as the paid advertising kingpin for many years, launching its advertising platform in November 2007.
Alongside Google, Facebook is the most popular advertising system available to sellers, with 92% of social marketers using the platform to advertise.
Looking for more practical tips on Facebook Ads? Check out our article on YouTube Ads vs Facebook Ads.
What is Facebook Ads?
Facebook Ads is a method of paid advertisement used to broadcast adverts across Facebook’s highly popular social media platform. Adverts are visible in Facebook’s feed, Messenger, Instagram and on other websites.
They can appear in many forms, such as image, video, slideshow, carousel, poll ads etc.
How much do Facebook Ads cost?
The cost of your Facebook advert will be determined by the billing model you have in place. These include:
- Cost-per-1000-impressions (CPM)
- Cost-per-click (CPC)
- Cost-per-action (CPA)
- Cost-per-engagement (CPE)
Facebook Ads’ bid auction works the same way as Amazon PPC, with your ad only being charged a penny above your competitor if you have a higher default bid.
Konstruct Digital claim a Facebook advert can range from $0.40 to $12.00 per click, with an average cost-per-click at $1.72.
Advantages and disadvantages of
Amazon PPC
Now we have a better understanding of Amazon PPC and Facebook Ads, let’s look into both advantages and disadvantages.
The advantages of Amazon PPC for businesses
- Immediate visibility
- Relevant traffic
- Performance metrics
- Device friendly
- Buying market (not viewers) – 51% of all online purchases go through Amazon
- Increased organic rankings
- Customisable
- Amazon's SEO insights
The disadvantages of Amazon PPC for businesses
- Time-consuming
- Risky budgeting
- Basic reporting
- Limited platform features
- Competition from millions of other vendors
- Pay for clicks, not sales
- More returns with Amazon’s open returns policy
- Long-term storage fees
- Product prep requirements
- Sales tax
Advantages and disadvantages of
Facebook Ads
So, now we know the advantages and disadvantages of Amazon PPC; what about Facebook Ads?
The advantages of Facebook Ads for businesses
- Powerful analytics
- Target your audience with multiple features (not buying ‘group’)
- Design ads with a specific objective and with more creativity
- A huge reach of consumers – 2 billion monthly users
- Remarketing to former buyers
- Advertise on Instagram
- Cheaper clicks and conversions
- Generate new leads
- Custom CTA button
- Social media popularity
- Scale content promotion
- Encourage customer loyalty
The disadvantages of Facebook Ads for businesses
- Lack of organic engagement
- Can be difficult to control bids
- No longer the most popular social platform
- More competition
Amazon PPC vs Facebook Ads: Which one to choose?
Overall, Amazon has improved but still has some way to go before it can contend with Facebook’s advertising prowess.
Facebook’s more advanced analytics, demographics and ad types make it a more versatile advertising platform. You can also use Facebook Ads to grow your social following and utilise the power of retargeting, which are both essential ways of maximising digital marketing success.
If you require any support in deciding between Amazon PPC or Facebook Ads, contact Flamingo Marketing Strategies. As digital marketing and PPC marketing specialists, we can help you develop a paid advertising strategy to ensure you reach more customers, boost brand engagement and stand out from the crowd.