Google Ads vs Meta Ads: Which is Best for Your Shopify Store?

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Choosing the right ad platform for your Shopify store

Launching a new Shopify store can feel like a major milestone, but in reality, it’s only half the battle. After opening your digital doors, the real challenge is to get your store in front of the right people at the right time.

The internet is a crowded, noisy place and getting your store noticed can be very difficult. That’s where paid ads come in. Paying to advertise your new Shopify store online is non-negotiable. It’s the fastest and simplest way to gain visibility, attract visitors, and start making sales.

There are lots of ad platforms to choose from, but Google Ads and Meta Ads (that’s Facebook and Instagram) are the two powerhouses for Shopify stores.

If you’re new to online advertising, this guide will act as the perfect introduction, guiding you through the differences between Google Ads and Meta Ads, how to budget for them, and which option makes the most sense depending on where your store is in its journey.

What are Google Ads?

Advertising on Google is the obvious place to start. As the world’s most popular search engine, it gives you access to a vast audience. When people come to Google, it means they’re already looking for something, so their buying intent is pretty high. By advertising here with PPC ads, you can potentially get your business or products in front of the right people at just the right time.

The main drawback with Google Ads is that competition here can be very high, which drives up the cost per click, especially if your business operates in a competitive industry.

Top tips for running successful Google Ads

Perfect your product feed: For best results, you’ll need to take time optimising your product feed (product titles, descriptions, and images) before you begin advertising. Poor product information will yield poor advertising results.
Separate your brand campaigns from your non-brand campaigns: Always split out brand campaigns and non-brand campaigns (generic search terms), otherwise Google will prioritise brand terms because they’re cheaper and easier to convert, but you won’t be growing, just capturing sales you may have got anyway.
Use Performance Max and Search Ads together: Google offers many different advertising campaign types, but Performance Max (PMAX) and Search Ads are usually the best options for Shopify merchants, as they cover all the major bases, including Google Shopping results, text ads, and YouTube results.
Split campaigns based on popularity and performance: Not all products perform the same. Split your campaigns by bestsellers and slow movers to control your budget more effectively. You can then make more informed budgeting decisions based on returns and profit margins.

What are Meta Ads?

Meta Ads appear on Meta-owned platforms like Facebook and Instagram. This type of ad helps you to advertise your business or products to very specific audiences by leveraging user data to target specific demographics, interests, and behaviours. While advertising here has the potential to put your products in front of the right people, your audience is not actively searching for anything. Instead, your advertisement interrupts their scrolling, creating brand awareness, driving impulse buys, or planting the seed for future purchases.

Meta ads are a powerful tool for prospecting, retargeting, and encouraging repeat purchases. However, their success relies heavily on the quality of the ad’s visuals. If your visuals don’t stand out or get too stale, the ad may perform poorly.

Top tips for running successful Meta Ads:

Get creative: Run a variety of different ads, from user-generated videos and testimonials to product demos and special offers. The more variety you offer, the better the algorithm can match the right creative to the right audience.
Prioritise Advantage and Shopping Campaigns (ASC): This is Meta’s automated campaign type, which automatically handles placement and targeting. It’s simple, effective, and powerful.
Test, test, test: Never stop testing different messaging, headlines, and creative angles. The more you test, the more you can refine your ads’ performance.

What are the key differences between Meta Ads and Google Ads?

Meta Ads and Google Ads are both powerful tools for growing brand awareness and driving more traffic and sales. However, the two work in quite different ways. Understanding the key differences between the two platforms will help you leverage each to its full potential.

Let’s explore the three key areas where the two options differ: Mindset, mechanics, and attribution.

Mindset

Meta Ads and Google Ads target shoppers with different intentions. The easiest way to look at it is this:

Meta Ads put your business in front of people who aren’t actively searching for products or services like yours, but fit your ideal customer profile.
Google Ads connects your business with people who are already searching for the products or services you sell.

Mechanics

There are clear differences in the way the two platforms operate too. Meta Ads require a creative approach that will stop people in their tracks when they’re scrolling on social media. In contrast, Google Ads are powered by your product data. So, optimising the titles, images, and descriptions in your product pages will help to drive better results.

Attribution

Because of these key differences, each platform attributes results differently too.

The people your ad reaches on Google are more likely to make a purchase immediately as they’re actively searching for what you’re offering. That’s why results are usually measured by “click-through” rates.

However, with Meta Ads, the people you reach are just scrolling, and they’re less likely to make an impulsive, immediate purchase. With Meta Ads, it’s more about getting eyes on your products, growing brand awareness, and planting the seed for future purchases. Sometimes, people who see your ads will come back later and purchase, even if they never clicked on the ad. Therefore, attribution for Meta tends to be “view-through” heavy.

Which platform is right for your Shopify store?

Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this question, but usually, a holistic approach covering both platforms works best.

Let’s take a look at some of the factors that can influence which is the most suitable platform to start with, or how to split your budget between the two.

Is your store new or established?

If you’re a brand-spanking-new store, then you’ll probably benefit from taking a slightly different approach to advertising than a store that’s been around for some time.

Established stores will want to protect their turf using Brand Search campaigns on Google Ads to prevent competitors from hijacking their traffic. For new stores, the best platform to start with may depend on what it is you’re selling…

What are you selling?

If your products have clear search intent, eg, “ergonomic laptop stand,” then prioritise Google Ads. Most new DTC (direct-to-consumer) brands find success with a 40% Meta and 60% Google split for the first 2-3 months.

On the other hand, if your products are more unusual, Meta Ads is a better platform for building awareness and creating demand from scratch. In this instance, flip the split around and try a 60% Meta to 40% Google split.

Should I run both Google and Meta Ads for my Shopify store?

In most cases, yes. Meta advertising and Google advertising complement each other perfectly, so many brands benefit from running ads on both platforms simultaneously. Google Ads are excellent for generating quick sales, while Meta Ads build interest and introduce your brand to new audiences to boost brand awareness and create excitement around your products.

When you run ads on both platforms, you’ll usually find that if you disable one, performance drops on the other. The two tend to perform best when used together. For example, someone is more likely to buy from your brand when they see your ad on Google if they have already seen or engaged with one of your Meta Ads on Facebook or Instagram.

Which is cheaper: Meta Ads or Google Ads?

This is perhaps the wrong question to be asking. Rather than asking which one is cheaper, we should be asking which has the most cost-effective customer acquisition cost.

When trying to budget for ads, many people make the mistake of comparing the cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM), but these figures don’t tell the whole story.

While Meta usually offers cheaper CPMs than Google, your audience on Meta may not be ready to buy yet. Clicks on Google can cost considerably more than they do on Meta, but these people generally have a much higher buying intent.

In reality, what’s “cheaper” depends more on your store than the platform you choose. Factors like how competitive your niche is, your on-site conversion rate, profit margins, and customer lifetime value impact your cost per acquisition more than the channel that you choose.

How much should I budget for Google and Meta Ads?

Once you’ve figured out where you’re going to advertise, it’s time to set a budget. Knowing how much to budget may be more important to the success of your ads than you first realise. Budget too little, and your campaigns won’t get enough traction to learn or deliver results.

Don’t forget, ads work on an auction system, so if you’re not budgeting enough, you will not be able to win those top placements. However, if you pump too much money into your campaigns, you could end up eating into your margins before you’ve even figured out what is and isn’t working! The right amount to budget will also depend on factors like how competitive your niche is and your average order value.

Here’s a rough idea of how much you should expect to budget for ads based on your average order value.

AOV under £40: Meta £40–£80/day, Google £20–£40/day.
AOV £40–£120: Meta £60–£120/day, Google £40–£80/day.
AOV £120+: Google £80–£150/day, Meta £40–£80/day.

If you’re a brand-new business or you’re trying to scale up, aim to invest 15-25% of your monthly revenue target into ads. Once your business is more established, you can consider scaling your budget back to around 8-15% of your monthly revenue.

Partner with a Shopify paid advertising agency

Setting up your first Google or Meta ad campaigns can feel like navigating a minefield. Get it wrong, and your budget might vanish with nothing to show for it. That’s where Create8 comes in.

We help Shopify merchants get their paid advertising campaigns off to a winning start. From strategy and setup to optimisation and reporting, we take the guesswork out of paid advertising, helping you to start seeing results faster.

We can also provide a comprehensive range of branding, web and digital marketing services, and can even offer suggestions for optimising your Shopify store’s UX (user experience). This ensures that when your ads drive traffic to your store, you can convert more of that traffic into sales.