How to Use Google Ads and Facebook Ads Together

Running a great Google Ads campaign feels fantastic, but what happens to the 98% of website visitors who don't buy on their first visit? They leave, and you're left hoping they remember you later. This is where combining the search power of Google with the social reach of Facebook creates a complete marketing engine that turns passive browsers into loyal customers. This article breaks down four actionable strategies to get these two platforms working together, covering the entire customer journey from discovery to conversion.

Google Ads vs. Facebook Ads: Demand Capture vs. Demand Generation

Before weaving them together, it's necessary to understand what makes each platform unique. They aren't competitors for your ad budget, they're partners with different specialties.

Google Ads: The Hunter (Demand Capture)

Think of Google Ads as a tool for capturing existing demand. Someone has a problem, they know what they want, and they go to Google to find a solution right now. They're typing in "best running shoes for flat feet" or "emergency plumber near me." Their intent is high, and they are actively looking to make a decision.

• Strength: Pinpoint targeting based on user intent (keywords). You reach people at the exact moment they're searching for your product or service.
• Weakness: You're limited to people who are already searching. You can't create new demand or introduce your brand to someone who doesn't know they need you yet.

Facebook Ads: The Farmer (Demand Generation)

Facebook (and Instagram) ads work by generating demand. Your ideal customer isn't actively searching for your brand while scrolling their feed, they're looking at photos from a friend's vacation or watching a funny Reel. Your ad interrupts their discovery with something interesting, valuable, or entertaining they weren't looking for.

• Strength: Incredible audience building tools. You can target based on interests, demographics, behaviors, and lookalike audiences, reaching millions of potential customers who fit your ideal profile. It's perfect for building brand awareness.
• Weakness: User intent is low. Most people aren't on Facebook to shop, so you need compelling creative and a strong hook to grab their attention and earn their click.

When you combine Google's high-intent traffic with Facebook's massive reach and audience tools, you build a powerful, full-funnel marketing system that both creates and captures demand.

Strategy 1: The Classic One-Two Punch (Facebook for Awareness, Google for Closing)

This is the most common and effective way to use both platforms together. You introduce your brand to a cold audience on Facebook, then use Google's remarketing to stay top-of-mind and close the deal when they are ready to act.

Here's how it works in practice for, let's say, a company that sells sustainable, high-quality yoga mats:

Step 1: Build Awareness and Warm Up the Audience on Facebook

Your goal here isn't direct sales, it's education and engagement. Run a top-of-funnel campaign on Facebook and Instagram with objectives like video views, traffic, or engagement.

• Audience: Target people interested in "yoga," "meditation," and "sustainability," or create a lookalike audience based on your existing customers.
• Creative: Your ad isn't a sales pitch yet. It's a beautiful video showing your mats in use in a serene setting, a blog post about the "Top 5 Eco-Friendly Materials for Yoga Mats," or an engaging carousel post highlighting your brand's mission.

People will click, watch your video, and visit your website. They now know who you are, but most won't buy yet.

Step 2: Recapture Their Attention with Google Remarketing

A few days later, that same person is researching yoga mats more seriously. They go to Google and search for "best non-slip yoga mat."

Since they visited your site from your Facebook ad, they're now in your Google Ads remarketing audience. This allows you to bid higher for them or show them a specific ad.

• Campaign Type: Use a Remarketing List for Search Ads (RLSA). This lets you tailor your search ads to people who have previously visited your site.
• The Ad: Your ad for this search can be more direct: "Durable & Eco-Friendly" in the title, and may include a small discount, "10% off for first-time buyers!" Since they already know your brand from Facebook, it increases trust. This ad stands out from competitors because it feels familiar. You're no longer a stranger.

Without Facebook, your ads are in competition for the sale alongside dozens of other brands, without Google, you're simply "raising awareness" and never closing the deal. Both platforms working together create a seamless user journey that moves someone from a passive scroller to an active buyer.

Strategy 2: Flip the Script - Target Your Hottest Google Leads on Facebook

This approach is the essential inverse of strategy 1. It's great for high-ticket items or services where customers need additional convincing after an initial search.

Step 1: Drive High-Intent Traffic with Google Search

Let's use the example of a SaaS company selling project management software for small teams. Run a highly targeted Google Search campaign for long-tail keywords like "project management software for remote teams" or "asana alternative for creative agencies."

The user who clicks these ads is extremely qualified. They're actively looking for a solution and are probably in a comparison mode.

Step 2: Create a Custom Audience

Use UTM parameters in your Google ad URLs to identify this traffic. For example, append `/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=High_Intent_Search` to your landing page. Now you can go on Facebook and create a Custom Audience based on people who have visited that exact URL.

Step 3: Run a Nurture Campaign on Facebook

Since you know this audience is highly motivated, your Facebook ads should focus on building trust and addressing pain points. You're not trying to sell the "what" of project management, you're selling them on the "why" your solution is the best.

• Testimonials/Case Studies: Share real feedback from happy users or short case studies showing how your product solved a specific problem.
• Webinar Invite: Invite the users to a free webinar demonstrating your solution in action. This gives you an opportunity to answer questions and engage.
• Social Proof Ads: Run a simple Dynamic Product Ad (DPA) highlighting an article that has been written about your company.

This strategy takes the existing intent you capture through Google and nurtures it with social proof on Facebook, effectively warming these leads into a conversion.

Strategy 3: Use Facebook as Your Ad Lab for Google

Running tests on Google is expensive. Every impression or click costs money. Facebook, in contrast, is often a more cost-effective testing ground. By quickly validating messaging, headlines, and visuals, you can see what resonates with your audience.

Let's imagine you're running an e-commerce store that sells lines of organic skincare products. You've just launched a new item&mdash,a vegan facial serum.

Testing Headlines:

Create a Facebook campaign with three different ad headlines.

• Headline 1: "Get Glowing Skin with Our Organic Miracle!"
• Headline 2: "Our Avocado Oil Serum Saves Your Skin from Aging!"
• Headline 3: "Dry, Itchy Skin? Try Our Natural Solution!"

Run these ads with a small budget to a broad audience (e.g., like a lookalike audience). After a few days, you'll quickly see which ad copy has the biggest click-through rate (CTR), comments, and shares.

Apply Winning Messaging into Google Ads

Now that you know what works, you can take the winning message and use it in your more expensive Google campaigns. The headline that generated the most engagement on Facebook can be used in your Google Search ad copy. Additionally, your Google Display Ads can use the winning visuals. This prevents you from wasting any marketing budget on Google ads that aren't going to resonate.

Strategy 4: Amplify Your Success: Turn Google Converters into a Facebook Goldmine

One of the most powerful features of Facebook ads is its ability to create lookalike audiences. It finds people who share the same traits as your best customers. What if you could apply this concept to your highest-converting Google audience? You can!

Step 1: Track Conversions from Google Ads

Set up conversion tracking in your Google Analytics and Ads accounts to record every instance of a completed purchase, lead form submission, or any other conversion event. This is your most valuable data asset.

Step 2: Create a Facebook Custom Audience

Upload a list of your Google conversions (e.g., export from your CRM) to Facebook to create a Custom Audience. Depending on how your setup is, you might be able to do this dynamically with the Facebook Pixel, your ad account, and CRM integration.

Step 3: Build a 1% Lookalike Audience

Once that custom audience is populated (Facebook recommends at least 1,000 people for the best results), click "Create a Lookalike Audience." Choose a 1% lookalike, which tells Facebook to find the people who most closely resemble your best Google Ads converters.

What this strategy effectively does is take your base of future Facebook targeting and grow it from a proven performance base: your highest-intent traffic. This approach constantly refines the user pool of your funnel campaigns with fresh, qualified leads.

Final Thoughts

Instead of Google Ads and Facebook Ads being siloed, think of them as a single, powerful marketing engine that can both create and capture demand. Mastering these strategies will ensure that your ads reach the right audience at the right time, maximizing your ad spend and achieving reliable and sustainable customer acquisition.

As you manage these complex, multi-platform strategies, organization is key. Consistently tracking and refining your ads from a central platform helps you maintain a holistic view of your strategy, ensuring you can build a cohesive customer journey and react quickly based on cross-platform performance data.