Google Ads is one of the most popular digital advertising platforms for small businesses. In fact, we found that 60% of small businesses implement paid search marketing, with a large portion undoubtedly prioritizing Google Ads in their strategy.
While Google and its parent company, Alphabet, have been pioneers in the online advertising world, that does not make them the only option or even necessarily the best option for your company. Every business will see success with different platforms depending on many factors, including their budget, marketing experience, and internal capacity.
In fact, there are several alternatives to Google Ads that can help small businesses get their brand out there and in front of the right customers. In this article, we'll explore 6 alternatives to Google Ads that small businesses should consider.
Google Ads is a powerful advertising platform, but there are several reasons why small businesses should look into alternatives. While these are just a few of the benefits of looking for alternatives to Google Ads, they are some of the most game-changing reasons to look elsewhere.
If you are a small business with little manpower, a limited budget, and even less time to spend on your digital marketing efforts, these reasons to look into Google Ads alternatives might resonate with you.
Now, let's explore 6 alternatives to Google Ads for small businesses.
Microsoft Ads, previously known as Bing Ads, is a search advertising platform owned by Microsoft. It allows advertisers to display ads on Bing, Yahoo, and MSN search results pages. Microsoft Ads has a smaller market share than Google Ads, but it still reaches millions of users who prefer using Bing as their search engine.
Source: ads.microsoft.com
Microsoft Ads offers several types of ads:
While the cost of advertising on Microsoft Ads can vary depending on several factors, such as industry, location, and competition, it's generally considered to be more affordable than Google Ads.
The average cost-per-click on Microsoft Ads is about 70% cheaper than the CPC (cost per click) on Google Ads. Of course, that lower cost is due in large part to less traffic, which has to be taken into account. On the other hand, because there's less competition on Microsoft Ads, small businesses may be able to achieve a higher return on investment (ROI) than they would with Google Ads.
Ultimately, Microsoft Ads is a great option for businesses that want to use similar advertising methods to Google Ads but don’t have the budget to get to the top of Google.
Facebook Ads is a popular advertising platform owned by Meta that allows businesses to create and display ads to Facebook's user base. With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook Ads is an excellent way to reach a broad audience, particularly for small businesses looking for an alternative to Google Ads.
One of the main advantages of Facebook Ads is its advanced targeting options. Businesses can target their ads based on several factors, including age, gender, location, interests, behaviors, and even life events. This allows you to create highly targeted ads that are more likely to reach the right audience.
Source: facebook.com/business/ads
Facebook Ads also offers a variety of ad formats, including image ads, video ads, carousel ads, message ads, and more. This variety of formats allows you to create engaging ads that can drive clicks, conversions, and brand awareness.
When considering your budget, Facebook Ads can be more affordable than Google Ads, with a lower average CPC for many industries. Additionally, Facebook Ads allows you to set a daily or lifetime budget, which can help control ad spend and avoid breaking your budget.
Overall, Facebook Ads can be an excellent alternative to Google Ads, particularly for businesses targeting a consumer audience. Its advanced targeting options and affordable pricing make it a popular choice among businesses of all sizes.
LinkedIn Ads is an advertising platform owned by LinkedIn that allows businesses to create and display ads to LinkedIn's user base. With over 700 million users, LinkedIn Ads is an excellent way to reach a professional audience, particularly for B2B businesses.
Source: business.linkedin.com
One of the main advantages of LinkedIn Ads is its ability to target ads based on professional data. Advertisers can target their ads based on several factors:
This allows businesses to create highly targeted ads that are more likely to reach the right audience. Besides, you can connect LinkedIn Ads to Looker Studio or other visualization tools, so you can easily analyze the performance, track budgets, and opmitize you future campaigns.
LinkedIn Ads can be more expensive than Google Ads, with a higher average CPC for many industries. However, LinkedIn Ads allows businesses to set a daily budget, which can help control ad spend and avoid overspending. Additionally, a tool like LinkedHelper can help businesses manage their LinkedIn ad spending by lowering automation costs and collecting more registrations.
Overall, LinkedIn Ads can be an excellent alternative to Google Ads, particularly for B2B businesses targeting a professional audience. Its advanced targeting options and variety of ad formats make it a popular choice among businesses looking to reach decision-makers and professionals in their industry.
Amazon Ads is an advertising platform owned by Amazon that allows businesses to promote products or services on Amazon.com. With over 300 million active Amazon customer accounts, Amazon Ads can be an excellent way for small businesses like yours to reach a large audience.
A key benefit to Amazon Ads is that it targets customers who are already in the buying mindset. When customers search for products on Amazon, they're often ready to make a purchase, and Amazon Ads allows you to place your products in front of those customers.
Source: advertising.amazon.com
Amazon Ads offers several advertising options:
In terms of cost, Amazon Ads can have a lower CPC than Google ads, but they require businesses to reach pricing minimums, which can be a limiting factor for some small businesses. But because Amazon Ads targets customers who are ready to buy, you can achieve a higher ROI than you otherwise could with Google Ads.
Overall, Amazon Ads can be an excellent alternative to Google Ads, particularly for businesses that already sell products on Amazon. Its ability to target customers who are ready to buy and its variety of advertising options make it a popular choice among businesses of all sizes.
While not as popular as other platforms, Reddit Ads can be a unique way to reach a highly engaged audience. With 430 million monthly active users, Reddit can be a great place for small businesses to connect with potential customers.
Reddit users are known for being passionate about their interests, and the platform allows you to target users based on subreddits (communities) they are interested in. This means you can create highly-targeted ads that are more likely to resonate with the right audience.
Source: redditforbusiness.com
Reddit Ads offers a variety of ad formats, including text ads, image ads, and video ads. Text ads are similar to Google Ads, while image and video ads can be highly engaging and effective at driving clicks and conversions.
From a budget perspective, Reddit Ads can be more expensive than Google Ads, but it varies largely by industry. This platform is one where you will need some patience and trial and error to find out if it’s a good fit budget-wise for your small business.
Overall, Reddit Ads can be an excellent alternative to Google Ads, particularly for businesses targeting a highly engaged audience. Its advanced targeting options, variety of ad formats, and affordable pricing make it a popular choice among small businesses looking to branch out from Google Ads.
If your business has a strong visual component, Pinterest Ads can be a great option. Because Pinterest has over 400 million monthly active users, these ads can be an excellent way for small businesses to connect with a wide range of people in a way that other advertising platforms cannot.
Pinterest is a platform where users discover and save ideas, so businesses can use Pinterest Ads to showcase their products or services in a visually appealing way. This can be particularly effective for businesses in industries such as remodeling, home decor, and painting, for example.
Source: ads.pinterest.com
Pinterest Ads offers several advertising options:
Depending on your industry, Pinterest Ads can be more affordable than Google Ads. As with many of these other alternatives to Google Ads, you can set daily and lifetime budgets to help manage your ad spending and stay in the green.
For visually-oriented industries, Pinterest Ads can be an excellent alternative to Google Ads. Its highly visual nature, advanced targeting options, and affordable pricing make it a popular choice among businesses of all sizes.
While Google Ads may be the go-to for small businesses, it's important to consider alternative platforms that may better suit your business's specific needs.
Of course, it’s important to remember that your industry, location, and advertising experience will all play a role in the success you see with any of these alternatives to Google Ads.
But by exploring different platforms with patience and perseverance, you can increase your small business’s visibility, reach your target audience, and ultimately drive more sales.