Every local business owner in Metro Vancouver eventually hits the same fork in the road. You have decided to spend money on ads, and now two giants are asking for it. Google wants your budget. Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, wants it too. They both promise customers, and the advice online is a wall of contradictions. One person swears Google is the only thing that works. The next insists Facebook changed their business. Who is right?
The uncomfortable truth is that the question itself is slightly wrong. Google Ads and Facebook Ads are not two versions of the same tool competing to do one job. They do fundamentally different things. Once you understand that difference, the choice stops feeling like a coin flip and starts making sense for your specific business.
What is the real difference between the two?
Here is the single most important idea in this entire article. Google captures demand. Facebook and Instagram create it.
When someone searches Google for "furnace repair Coquitlam" or "wedding photographer near me," they already know what they want. They have a need, right now, and they are actively hunting for a business to solve it. Google Ads lets you put your business in front of that person at the exact moment they are looking. You are not convincing anyone they need a plumber. They already know. You are simply raising your hand and saying "here I am."
Facebook and Instagram work in reverse. Nobody opens Instagram looking to buy a bathroom renovation. They are scrolling through photos of friends, dogs, and dinners. Meta ads interrupt that scroll with something interesting, a stunning before and after photo, a short video, a limited time offer. The person was not searching for you. You reached out and planted an idea that was not there a moment ago. You created the demand.
This distinction, capturing existing demand versus creating new demand, is the lens for every other decision. Get this right and the rest follows.
Which platform fits which business goal?
Because the two platforms do different jobs, they suit different goals.
Google Ads tends to shine when you sell something people actively search for, especially urgent or need driven services. Emergency plumbing, locksmiths, HVAC repair, dental pain, legal help, towing. When a customer has a problem and wants it solved today, they turn to search. If your business answers a question people type into Google, search advertising puts you in front of buyers who are ready to act.
Facebook and Instagram tend to shine when your product is visual, discretionary, or something people do not think to search for. Boutique retail, restaurants, med spas, home staging, custom furniture, fitness studios, event services. These are businesses where seeing the thing sparks the desire. A gorgeous photo of a renovated kitchen can make someone want a renovation they were not even considering that morning. That is demand creation, and it is what social platforms do well.
Awareness is another dividing line. If almost nobody in your area knows your business exists yet, Facebook and Instagram are powerful for getting your name and your work in front of a wide local audience. If people already know they need your service and are comparing options, Google helps you catch them at the decision point.
How do budgets compare between the two?
Cost works differently on each platform, and it ties back to intent.
On Google, you generally pay per click, and you are bidding against other businesses for high intent searches. Because those clicks come from people ready to buy, they can carry a higher price, particularly in competitive Metro Vancouver industries. You are paying a premium to reach someone at the bottom of the funnel, close to a decision.
On Facebook and Instagram, you are typically paying to put your message in front of a large audience, and the cost to reach people is often lower per view because you are reaching them earlier, before they have any intent. The tradeoff is that many of those people are not ready to buy yet, so it can take more touches and more patience to turn attention into a sale.
Neither is simply cheaper. Google often costs more per click but reaches people closer to buying. Social often costs less to reach people but reaches them further from the decision. The right way to compare is not the price of a click but the cost of an actual customer, measured against what that customer is worth to you. A pricier click that converts can easily beat a cheap impression that never does.
What kind of creative does each platform need?
The two platforms also ask different things of you creatively, and this catches many business owners off guard.
Google search ads are mostly text. Headlines, descriptions, and a clear offer. Success comes from choosing the right keywords, writing copy that matches what the searcher wants, and sending them to a landing page that delivers. You do not need a videographer. You need relevance and clarity.
Facebook and Instagram are visual to the core. Your ad lives or dies on the strength of the image or video that stops the scroll. Bland stock photos get ignored. Real, striking, human content gets attention. This means social advertising asks for an ongoing supply of good creative, photos of your work, short videos, genuine faces. If you have a naturally photogenic business, this plays to your strength. If producing visual content feels like a mountain, that is a real cost to weigh before you commit.
This is also where the two channels connect to your broader marketing. Strong social media marketing is not just paid ads. It is a steady stream of content that makes the paid ads work harder and keeps your audience warm between campaigns.
Should I use both at the same time?
For many established local businesses, the smartest answer is not one or the other. It is both, working together.
Picture how the two combine. Facebook and Instagram introduce your business to people in New Westminster and surrounding areas who have never heard of you, building recognition with eye catching content. Some of those people, days or weeks later, develop a real need and go to Google to search. Because your name is now familiar, thanks to the social ads, you have an edge when they see you in the search results. Meta created the demand. Google captured it. The two hand off to each other.
There is also a powerful tactic called retargeting that bridges the platforms. Someone visits your website but does not call. You can then show them ads on Facebook and Instagram to stay top of mind and gently pull them back. The initial visit might have come from a Google search, and the follow up nudge comes from social. Used together, the platforms cover the whole journey from first awareness to final decision.
That said, running both well takes more time, more budget, and more skill than running one. If your resources are limited, it is usually better to do one platform properly than to do both poorly. Prove one channel, then expand.
What does this look like for a Metro Vancouver business?
Concrete examples make the choice clearer.
A New Westminster emergency plumber should almost certainly lean on Google. Their customers have burst pipes and flooded basements, and they are searching in a panic. Being at the top of that search is close to everything. Social has a supporting role for brand recognition, but search is the engine.
A Burnaby med spa or a boutique clothing shop is the opposite case. Their services are visual and discretionary, the kind of thing people buy when they see something beautiful and feel inspired. Instagram and Facebook, filled with striking before and after photos and short videos, are natural fits for creating that desire. Google still helps capture people already searching for a specific treatment, but social does the heavy lifting of demand creation.
A Coquitlam home renovation company often benefits from the full combination. Stunning project photos on Instagram plant the dream and build the brand across the community. Google Ads then catches homeowners once they start actively searching for a contractor. The social presence makes the business feel established and trustworthy, so the Google click is more likely to turn into a call.
The pattern is consistent. Match the platform to how your customers actually find and decide on your kind of service, not to which one a friend happened to like.
How do I decide where to start?
If you want a simple starting rule, use this. Ask whether people already search for what you sell. If yes, and especially if it is urgent, begin with Google, because the demand is already there waiting to be captured. If people do not typically search for your offering, and your business is visual or discovery driven, begin with Facebook and Instagram to create demand and build awareness.
Then let results guide you. Track not just clicks and likes but real inquiries and customers, and measure each channel against the value it brings in. Over time you will see clearly where your dollars work hardest, and you can shift the balance or add the second platform with evidence instead of guesswork.
Choosing between Google and Facebook is really about understanding your customers and how they move from unaware to ready to buy. That is not always obvious from the inside, and picking wrong can waste a lot of money. Vanguard Media is a New Westminster based agency that helps Metro Vancouver businesses build paid advertising strategies matched to how their customers actually behave. If you are not sure which path fits your business, call us at 604-800-6191 or request a free audit and we will help you spend where it counts.