Sales & Conversion
Personas
Ecommerce
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
Three months ago, a client called me in frustration: "We're spending €3,000 monthly on Facebook Ads with a 2.5 ROAS, but we're barely breaking even. Should we switch to Google Ads?"
It's the eternal marketing question every ecommerce founder faces. Facebook promises sophisticated targeting and creative flexibility. Google offers high-intent search traffic. But which one actually delivers better cost-effectiveness for your bottom line?
After working with dozens of ecommerce clients and testing both platforms extensively, I've discovered something most marketing gurus won't tell you: the "better" platform depends entirely on your product catalog complexity and customer buying behavior.
In this playbook, you'll learn:
Why product-channel fit matters more than cost-per-click
The hidden costs both platforms don't show you upfront
My exact framework for testing platform profitability
When to abandon paid ads completely (yes, really)
Real cost breakdowns from actual client campaigns
Stop making platform decisions based on industry averages. Your ecommerce strategy deserves data-driven choices based on your specific situation.
Reality Check
What every ecommerce founder believes about ad platforms
Walk into any ecommerce conference and you'll hear the same tired debate: Facebook vs Google Ads. The conventional wisdom goes like this:
Facebook Ads are for discovery and awareness - perfect for introducing new products to cold audiences through visual storytelling. Lower costs, better targeting, ideal for impulse purchases.
Google Ads capture high-intent traffic - people actively searching for solutions. Higher costs but better conversion rates. Perfect for considered purchases.
Marketing agencies love this narrative because it justifies running both platforms simultaneously. "You need a full-funnel approach," they'll say, charging you management fees for multiple campaigns.
The industry benchmarks seem to support this:
Facebook Ads: Average CPC €0.50-€2.00, conversion rates 1-3%
Google Ads: Average CPC €1.00-€5.00, conversion rates 2-5%
"Best practice": Allocate 60% budget to Google, 40% to Facebook
Use Facebook for prospecting, Google for retargeting
Test creative on Facebook, scale on Google
This framework works perfectly... in PowerPoint presentations. But here's what happens when you actually implement it with real businesses: most ecommerce stores end up wasting money on the wrong platform because they never tested product-channel fit.
The truth is, cost-effectiveness isn't about platform features or industry averages. It's about whether your specific product catalog matches the platform's buying behavior.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
Let me tell you about a Shopify client that completely changed my perspective on platform selection. They had over 1,000 products across multiple categories - think lifestyle goods, home decor, and accessories. Classic ecommerce setup.
When I started working with them, they were heavily invested in Facebook Ads. The numbers looked decent on paper: 2.5 ROAS, €50 average order value, consistent traffic. Most marketers would call that acceptable performance.
But when I dug deeper into the real profitability, something didn't add up. Their margins were tight, and after factoring in the cost of goods, fulfillment, and ad spend, they were barely profitable. The Facebook Ads were generating sales, but not sustainable growth.
The fundamental problem wasn't the platform - it was the mismatch between their product catalog and Facebook's buying environment. Facebook Ads demand quick decisions. Users are scrolling, distracted, making impulse purchases. This works brilliantly for 1-3 hero products with clear value propositions.
But my client's strength was their variety. Customers needed time to browse, compare, and discover the right product for them. They had seasonal items, gift sets, customizable options - the kind of catalog that shines when people can explore at their own pace.
I realized we were trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Instead of optimizing Facebook campaigns endlessly, I proposed something radical: let's test if this business model works better with organic discovery.
That's when we pivoted to a completely different strategy focused on SEO over paid traffic. The results challenged everything I thought I knew about ecommerce marketing.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Instead of throwing more money at Facebook optimization, I led a complete channel strategy overhaul based on one key insight: your distribution channel must match your customer's natural buying behavior.
Here's the exact process I implemented:
Step 1: Product-Channel Fit Analysis
I audited their entire catalog through a different lens. Instead of asking "what performs on Facebook," I asked "how do customers actually want to discover these products?" The analysis revealed that 70% of their products were discovery-driven rather than search-driven.
Step 2: The SEO Pivot
Rather than competing in the expensive paid traffic auction, we built an SEO-first strategy. I completely restructured their website architecture around product discovery and browsing patterns. Every category page became a potential entry point optimized for long-tail keywords.
Step 3: Content-Driven Discovery
We created buying guides, seasonal collections, and style inspiration pages. Instead of interrupting people with ads, we attracted them during their research phase. The content served both SEO and user experience goals.
Step 4: Conversion Path Optimization
With organic traffic, users arrived with different intent levels. I redesigned the site navigation and product pages to support exploration rather than immediate purchase pressure. This included better filtering, related product suggestions, and educational content.
Step 5: Platform Cost Comparison
After 3 months, I ran a detailed cost analysis comparing the old Facebook Ads approach with the new organic strategy. The numbers were eye-opening:
Facebook Ads required constant budget to maintain traffic. SEO had upfront costs but created lasting traffic growth. More importantly, organic visitors spent longer on site and had higher lifetime value because they discovered products naturally rather than being pushed toward quick decisions.
This experience taught me that cost-effectiveness isn't just about cost-per-acquisition. It's about matching your marketing channel to your product's natural discovery and buying patterns.
Attribution Reality
Facebook's attribution often claims credit for organic conversions, inflating apparent performance
Channel Physics
Each platform has rules you can't change - work with them, not against them
Product Complexity
Simple catalogs favor paid ads, complex catalogs favor organic discovery
True Profitability
Factor in lifetime value, not just immediate ROAS, for accurate cost comparison
The results from this strategic pivot were significant and sustained:
Traffic Quality Improvement: Organic visitors spent an average of 4.2 minutes on site versus 1.8 minutes from Facebook Ads. More importantly, they viewed 3.1 pages per session compared to 1.4 pages from paid traffic.
Conversion Behavior Changes: While Facebook traffic converted at 2.1%, organic traffic converted at 2.8%. The organic conversions also had 23% higher average order values because customers had time to discover complementary products.
Cost Structure Transformation: Instead of €3,000 monthly ad spend, the SEO investment was front-loaded - approximately €8,000 in content creation and optimization over 6 months. After month 6, ongoing costs were minimal while traffic continued growing.
Business Sustainability: The most important change was cash flow predictability. With Facebook Ads, stopping spend meant immediate traffic loss. The organic approach created compound growth where each month's content investments improved the next month's performance.
By month 6, organic traffic was generating more revenue than the previous Facebook Ads campaigns, but with zero ongoing advertising costs. The business had sustainable, profitable growth instead of advertising-dependent revenue.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
This experience fundamentally changed how I evaluate advertising cost-effectiveness. Here are the key lessons that apply to any ecommerce decision:
1. Product-Channel Fit Trumps Platform Features
Don't choose platforms based on their capabilities. Choose based on how your customers naturally want to discover and buy your products. Complex catalogs need exploration time that paid ads can't provide.
2. Question Attribution Models
Facebook's attribution often inflates performance by claiming credit for customers who would have converted anyway. Always track direct traffic and branded search increases alongside paid campaigns.
3. Factor in Opportunity Costs
€3,000 monthly on ads is €36,000 annually. That same budget invested in content and SEO can create lasting traffic that grows year over year. Calculate the 3-year value, not just monthly ROAS.
4. Test Channel Exit Costs
Before committing to any paid channel, understand what happens when you stop spending. Channels that create zero lasting value are expensive dependencies, not investments.
5. Match Marketing to Customer Journey Length
Quick-decision products work well with paid ads. Products requiring research, comparison, or education need longer-form discovery channels like content marketing and SEO.
6. Don't Optimize Around Platform Limitations
If your business model doesn't naturally fit a platform's constraints, find a different channel instead of forcing your products into an incompatible format.
7. Measure Business Health, Not Campaign Metrics
Focus on metrics that matter for business sustainability: customer lifetime value, repeat purchase rates, and profit margins - not just cost-per-acquisition or ROAS.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS startups evaluating Facebook vs Google Ads:
Test product-channel fit before scaling either platform
Consider content-driven growth for complex products
Calculate 12-month customer value, not just trial conversion costs
Question attribution models that inflate platform performance
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce stores choosing between Facebook and Google Ads:
Audit catalog complexity versus platform buying behavior
Test organic discovery for 1000+ product catalogs
Factor in lifetime value and repeat purchase rates
Consider SEO investment for sustainable growth