Paid Search vs. Paid Social: How to Choose the Right Strategy for Your E-Commerce Growth in 2024

As we head into 2024, the digital marketing landscape continues to evolve, especially in the e-commerce space. The two titans of online marketing—paid search and paid social—remain central to growth strategies, but understanding which to prioritize (or how to balance both) is key to achieving your business goals.

While paid search targets users with high purchase intent through platforms like Google Ads, paid social focuses on engaging users on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, helping to create demand and awareness. Both channels are effective, but they have very different strengths depending on your objectives, audience, and product. In this guide, we’ll break down the differences between paid search and paid social, explain when to use each, and provide strategies for combining them for optimal results.

Understanding Paid Search vs. Paid Social: Core Differences: What is Paid Search?

Paid search is all about targeting users who are actively looking for a product or service. When someone types a query into Google or another search engine, they have intent. They’re searching for information, products, or solutions. Google Ads is the most well-known platform for paid search and allows you to place your business in front of users with search intent via keywords.

Pros of Paid Search:
High intent: You’re targeting users who are already searching for what you offer, which usually means they’re closer to making a purchase.
Scalability: Paid search campaigns can scale quickly if you’re willing to pay for competitive keywords.
Trackable ROI: With paid search, it’s easier to tie your ad spend directly to conversions through metrics like Cost Per Click (CPC) and conversion rates.
Cons of Paid Search:
Higher costs: Competitive keywords, especially in e-commerce niches, can drive up CPCs, leading to higher overall acquisition costs.
Limited creativity: Paid search ads rely mostly on text-based ads, offering limited opportunities for creativity compared to paid social.

What is Paid Social and why is it so much different than Paid Search?

Paid social, on the other hand, involves placing ads on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. These ads are displayed to users based on demographic targeting, interests, behaviors, and lookalike audiences. Unlike paid search, these users may not be actively searching for your product, but effective ads can create demand and drive impulse buys.

Pros of Paid Social:
Building awareness and demand: Paid social is excellent for increasing brand visibility, creating demand, and introducing your products to new audiences.
Rich creative options: You can leverage image, video, carousels, stories, and UGC (user-generated content) to engage users visually and emotionally.
Precise targeting: Platforms like Facebook and TikTok offer advanced targeting options that help you get in front of highly specific audiences, even if they’re not actively searching for your product.
Cons of Paid Social:
Lower purchase intent: Since users aren’t actively looking for your product, conversions may be lower compared to paid search.
Requires consistent creative refresh: Paid social ads need continuous testing and refreshing to avoid creative fatigue and keep users engaged.

When Should You Use Paid Search?

Paid search is ideal when your goals align with high-intent traffic and immediate conversions. If people are actively searching for your products or services—especially in competitive e-commerce categories—paid search can help you tap into this demand directly. Consider paid search when:

You sell niche products or services: If your products are highly specific and people are searching for them, you’ll want to show up in the search results when they’re ready to buy.
Your target audience is already aware of the solution: If your audience is already familiar with the product category or service you offer (e.g., phone cases, home workout equipment), paid search allows you to capture high-intent traffic.
Your goal is lead generation or direct conversions: Whether you’re selling products or generating leads, paid search is highly effective at converting users who already know what they’re looking for.

Common search intent queries could include phrases like "buy [product]," "[product] near me," or "best [product] for [specific use case]."

When Should You Use Paid Social?

Paid social excels at creating awareness and demand where none may exist yet. It’s highly effective for building your brand, introducing new products to market, and reaching audiences who may not know they need your product yet. Use paid social when:

You’re launching a new product: Paid social ads are perfect for generating buzz and awareness around a new product launch, especially with the visual storytelling power of platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
Your goal is to build brand awareness: When you’re trying to grow your brand’s presence, paid social helps you reach a broad, engaged audience.
You need to reach niche, interest-based groups: Social platforms allow for more granular targeting than search. If you know that your target customers share specific interests (e.g., eco-conscious consumers, home chefs, fitness enthusiasts), paid social can help you reach them directly.

In e-commerce, especially in industries like fashion, beauty, wellness, and tech, paid social helps you introduce your brand to new customers and build loyalty over time.

Combining Paid Search and Paid Social for Maximum Impact

Many successful e-commerce brands leverage a combination of paid search and paid social to build awareness and convert high-intent customers. Here’s how you can use both channels in tandem for maximum ROI:

1. Paid Social to Drive Demand, Paid Search to Capture It

One effective strategy is using paid social to drive awareness and create demand while using paid search to capture that demand when customers are ready to convert.

For example, a beauty brand could use paid social ads to highlight a new skincare product, showing testimonials and how-to videos on Instagram and TikTok. Once those users start searching for more information, your Google Ads will capture them at the moment of high intent.

Key takeaway:

Use paid social to educate, entertain, and engage, and paid search to capture customers once they’re ready to buy.

2. Paid Social for Prospecting, Paid Search for Remarketing

Another powerful strategy is to use paid social ads to prospect and attract new audiences while using paid search for remarketing. Here’s how it works:

Paid social: Use targeted ads on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok to introduce your product to new audiences based on their interests, demographics, or behavior.
Paid search remarketing: Retarget users who have visited your website but haven’t converted yet with Google Ads or Bing Ads. These ads will appear when they search for your product or a related query, nudging them toward a purchase.

Key takeaway:

Combine paid social for top-of-funnel awareness and paid search for bottom-of-funnel remarketing to guide potential customers through the full buyer’s journey.

3. Testing Ad Creatives Across Channels

Both paid search and paid social benefit from testing multiple ad creatives and variations. Each channel has different formats, and testing allows you to understand which messaging, design, or product offers resonate best with your audience. Here’s what to focus on:

Landing page variations: Test different headlines, CTAs, and designs for your landing pages based on the traffic source—paid social users may respond differently than paid search users. At Boomn, we specialize in crafting high-converting landing pages tailored to specific audiences.
Creative formats: Try video ads, carousel ads, and static images on paid social, and compare the engagement across platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels. On paid search, test different copy variations and offers in your ads.

Key takeaway:

A/B test ad creatives, messaging, and landing pages across both paid search and paid social to optimize conversion rates.

Key Metrics to Measure Success in Paid Search vs. Paid Social

Both paid search and paid social come with their own metrics, and understanding what to track in each will help you measure success more effectively.

Paid Search Metrics

Click-Through Rate (CTR): How many people clicked your ad after seeing it.
Conversion Rate: The percentage of clicks that result in a purchase or lead.
Cost Per Click (CPC): The amount you’re paying for each click.
Search Impression Share: How often your ads are showing up compared to competitors for specific keywords.

Paid Social Metrics

Engagement Rate: The number of likes, shares, comments, and interactions on your ad.
Reach and Impressions: How many people saw your ad and how often it was shown.
Video View Rate: How many people watched your video ad.
Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM): The amount you’re paying for every 1,000 impressions.

Tracking these metrics will help you fine-tune both paid search and paid social campaigns to get the best possible results.

Boomn’s Expertise in Paid Search and Paid Social

At Boomn, we specialize in helping e-commerce brands thrive by creating integrated paid search and Paid Social campaigns that are profitable. Reach out to us if you wanna chat.

Paid Search vs. Paid Social: How to Choose the Right Strategy for Your E-Commerce Growth in 2024

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