Google Ads vs. LinkedIn Ads: Choosing the Right Platform for Your B2B Campaign

In today’s competitive digital landscape, selecting the right advertising platform can make or break your B2B marketing strategy. While both Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads offer powerful tools for reaching audiences, their features, strengths, and applications vary significantly. Understanding their differences is essential to aligning your campaigns with your business objectives. This article explores ten key aspects to help you make an informed decision, with insights drawn from our B2B marketing agency specializing in both LinkedIn for B2B and Google for B2B.

1.- Audience Targeting: Breadth vs. Depth

Google Ads excels in reaching a broad audience. With its immense search engine user base, it allows you to target prospects based on search intent and behavioral data. In contrast, LinkedIn Ads focuses on precise professional targeting, offering filters such as job title, industry, company size, and seniority. Agencies specializing in B2B LinkedIn ads or B2B Google ads often emphasise how LinkedIn’s precision is unmatched when engaging decision-makers in niche industries. HubSpot uses LinkedIn Ads to target marketing managers and sales professionals, leveraging LinkedIn’s detailed professional filters. Conversely, Salesforce employs Google Ads to capture high-intent search traffic related to CRM solutions. LinkedIn reports that 80% of B2B leads come from its platform. Meanwhile, Google Ads reaches over 90% of all internet users globally, offering unparalleled breadth.

Action for Decision Makers: Integrate LinkedIn Ads into your account-based marketing (ABM) strategy. For high-value accounts, create segmented campaigns targeting specific job roles and industries. Simultaneously, use Google Ads to target intent-driven queries like “enterprise CRM software” to capture broader inbound demand.

2.- Cost Considerations: Balancing Budget and ROI

Advertising costs can be a decisive factor for many businesses. Google Ads typically offers lower CPCs (Cost Per Click) due to its scale, but competition for B2B keywords can drive prices higher. LinkedIn Ads, while often more expensive, provides higher-quality leads aligned with professional intent. A B2B Google ads agency or B2B LinkedIn ads agency can help you analyse cost-per-lead data and ensure your budget is optimised for results. ZoomInfo invests in LinkedIn Ads to ensure its B2B lead quality remains high, while smaller SaaS companies often start with Google Ads to test campaigns on tighter budgets. LinkedIn Ads typically have a CPC range of $5–$15 for B2B campaigns, while Google Ads for B2B keywords often range between $1–$5, though competitive terms can exceed $50 per click.

Action for Decision Makers: Allocate budgets based on the sales funnel stage. Use LinkedIn Ads for middle and bottom-of-funnel campaigns targeting decision-makers, and Google Ads for top-of-funnel demand generation. Regularly review cost-per-lead and cost-per-acquisition metrics to adjust budget allocation dynamically.

3.- Ad Formats and Creativity

Google Ads provides flexibility in ad formats, including text, display, shopping, and video ads. This diversity allows businesses to tailor campaigns to different stages of the buyer’s journey. LinkedIn Ads, while narrower in scope, specialises in formats designed for professional engagement, such as Sponsored Content, Message Ads, and Lead Gen Forms. The best B2B marketing agencies often recommend leveraging LinkedIn-specific formats to drive engagement and trust in B2B sectors. IBM uses LinkedIn Sponsored Content to promote whitepapers and case studies to IT decision-makers, while Adobe relies on Google Ads video formats to showcase its creative tools to a wide audience. LinkedIn Sponsored Content sees a 30% higher engagement rate on average compared to other LinkedIn formats, while Google Ads video campaigns achieve 47% higher purchase intent when used in remarketing efforts.

Action for Decision Makers: Sales & Marketing teams can create multi-format campaigns to test engagement. For example, launch whitepapers through LinkedIn Sponsored Content to capture decision-makers’ attention, while using Google Ads video campaigns to educate a broader audience about your unique value proposition.

4.- Lead Quality and Intent

Google Ads captures users actively searching for solutions, which often translates to high intent. However, LinkedIn’s professional data ensures leads are highly relevant for B2B marketers. If you’re prioritizing lead quality over volume, LinkedIn may be the better option. Partnering with a B2B LinkedIn ads agency ensures you maximise these leads while using expert B2B LinkedIn ads tips & tricks for optimal results. Slack uses LinkedIn Ads to target enterprise-level HR and IT professionals, ensuring high-quality leads. Meanwhile, Microsoft uses Google Ads to drive search-based inquiries for Azure cloud solutions. According to HubSpot, leads generated through LinkedIn are 277% more likely to convert into customers compared to leads from other platforms, including Google Ads.

Action for Decision Makers: Run simultaneous campaigns and compare performance metrics by segment. Use Google Ads for broader search-based leads and LinkedIn Ads for personalised outreach to enterprise accounts. Analyse lead scoring reports to optimize targeting strategies.

5.- Brand Awareness vs. Niche Targeting

Google Ads is effective for boosting brand visibility across a wide spectrum of audiences, leveraging search and display networks. LinkedIn Ads is better suited for niche targeting, ensuring your message reaches specific professionals or organizations. For broader campaigns, a B2B Google ads agency can help you create compelling strategies for mass awareness, while LinkedIn excels in industry-specific outreach. Dropbox Business runs Google Ads display campaigns for general brand awareness, while LinkedIn campaigns focus on IT administrators and procurement managers. Google’s Display Network reaches over 2 million websites and apps, enabling B2B brands to build awareness at scale. LinkedIn, however, sees 15x higher engagement rates with Sponsored InMail campaigns for B2B targeting.

Action for Decision Makers: For MNCs launching new solutions, start with a mass-awareness Google Ads campaign. Once initial interest builds, switch to LinkedIn Ads for deeper engagement with targeted industries or decision-making roles.

6.- Retargeting Capabilities

Both platforms offer robust retargeting options, but their effectiveness depends on your audience. Google Ads enables retargeting through display networks and dynamic ads, reaching users across millions of websites. LinkedIn’s retargeting, while limited to its platform, leverages professional data for hyper-relevant follow-ups. Shopify retargets small business owners who visit its landing pages through Google Ads, while LinkedIn retargeting helps Adobe nurture professionals engaging with its B2B webinars. Retargeted ads are 76% more likely to be clicked on Google’s Display Network, while LinkedIn retargeting boosts lead engagement by an average of 3x when combined with account-based strategies.

Action for Decision Makers: Sales teams can set up retargeting workflows using LinkedIn to engage leads who have already interacted with company events or content. Combine this with Google dynamic retargeting ads that display personalised product recommendations to re-engage website visitors.

7.- Conversion Tracking and Analytics

Google Ads provides comprehensive analytics through Google Analytics, offering insights into user behavior and conversions. LinkedIn’s analytics focus on professional metrics, such as job function or company engagement, which are invaluable for B2B campaigns. HubSpot integrates LinkedIn analytics into its CRM to track engagement by job role, while Shopify uses Google Analytics to monitor e-commerce conversion rates. 89% of marketers using LinkedIn’s analytics tools report improved campaign effectiveness, while Google Ads’ cross-platform analytics boosts ROI by an average of 30% for multichannel campaigns.

Action for Decision Makers: Integrate LinkedIn and Google Ads conversion data into your CRM. Use the insights to develop tailored sales pitches, emphasizing personalised content or solutions during follow-ups with high-intent prospects.

8.- Scalability and Reach

Google Ads wins in terms of scalability, as its search and display networks reach billions of users worldwide. LinkedIn Ads, while more limited in scale, provides unparalleled access to a professional audience. Amazon Web Services uses Google Ads for broad campaign scalability and LinkedIn Ads to target specific enterprise CTOs and IT professionals.Google Ads delivers over 5.6 billion daily searches, while LinkedIn boasts over 930 million professional profiles, with 4 out of 5 members driving business decisions.

Action for Decision Makers: Expand scalable efforts by creating broad awareness campaigns using Google Ads. Simultaneously, narrow your LinkedIn Ads strategy to high-value accounts, ensuring resource efficiency and targeted impact.

9.- Ease of Use and Campaign Management

Google Ads can be complex to manage, requiring expertise in keywords, bidding strategies, and audience segmentation. LinkedIn Ads, while simpler to set up, benefits from a professional network that naturally aligns with B2B marketing. A mid-sized cybersecurity firm works with a B2B LinkedIn agency to simplify its lead generation process while relying on a B2B Google agency to manage its broader keyword strategy. 70% of marketers say LinkedIn Ads is easier to set up and manage compared to Google Ads, though Google Ads offers 50+ optimization tools for advanced users.

Action for Decision Makers: Invest in campaign management training for your marketing team, or partner with specialised agencies. Ensure your team has expertise in Google Ads’ optimization tools and LinkedIn’s targeting features to maximize results.

10.- Integration with Marketing Strategies

Finally, consider how each platform integrates with your broader marketing strategy. Google Ads works seamlessly with SEO and content marketing efforts, amplifying their impact. LinkedIn Ads complements account-based marketing (ABM) and other B2B-specific strategies. Oracle integrates Google Ads with its content marketing strategy for inbound leads, while its ABM team uses LinkedIn Ads to engage C-level executives at target accounts. Marketers who integrate Google Ads with SEO see a 20% lift in lead generation, while LinkedIn Ads integrated with ABM strategies increase revenue by an average of 23%.

Action for Decision Makers: Align your content strategy with ad platforms. Use Google Ads to promote SEO-driven content like blogs and whitepapers, while LinkedIn Ads focuses on strategic campaigns targeting specific accounts or verticals.

In conclusion:

Choosing between Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads for your B2B campaign depends on your specific goals, audience, and budget. Google Ads offers scale, flexibility, and cost efficiency, while LinkedIn Ads provides precision targeting and professional engagement. With the support of the best B2B marketing agency, Sales & Marketing decision-makers at MNCs can craft a strategy that maximises ROI and achieves their business objectives.

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This article has been created in collaboration with ChatGPT 4.0.