In this solo instructional podcast, Kelly Alhooie demystifies the core differences between Meta (Facebook/Instagram) advertising and Google advertising for healthcare practices, especially pelvic floor therapy. She explains that Meta ads rely on creative assets—videos, images, reels, and hooks—to scale and primarily charge for impressions, targeting a broad, cold audience that may not be actively seeking a solution. Google ads, by contrast, are keyword-driven, require fast-loading landing pages, and charge per click, reaching a smaller pool of high‑intent users actively searching for services like "pelvic floor therapy near me." Kelly outlines practical considerations such as the importance of matching search terms to landing page content, maintaining page speed under two seconds, and the longer 6‑12‑week ramp‑up period for Google campaigns. She compares audience size, cost per lead, and sales cycle length for each platform, noting that Meta typically costs less per lead but yields lower conversion rates, while Google costs more per lead but converts faster. Finally, she recommends that brick‑and‑mortar practices run both platforms to capture both unaware and ready‑to‑act patients, whereas online therapy businesses should prioritize Meta for broader awareness, optionally supplementing with Google. The episode concludes with a concise, 3rd‑grade‑level breakdown of why and how to use each ad channel effectively.
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All right, have you all been hearing lots of things about Google Ads and Meta Ads and you have no clue what that is? And you're like, Kelly, set the record straight. What the heck's the difference? Why do I need to do it? Why do I not need to do it? Tell me all the things. So I'm going to break things down today very, very simply on what the difference— the main difference between Meta and Google. They do have lots of similarities, but I'm going to give you the differences between both and break it down like a 3rd grade level of the difference. So let's get into it. Number 1, how you scale Meta ads is purely on the actual visuals, guys. So that means the video, that means the messaging, but it's really kind of the creative. So it's a reel, it's a still image like an actual photo, it can be a carousel as well. Um, so that is how you scale Meta. And basically, the more creatives, the more you are going to actually, uh, potentially be able to scale. And Google, it's more words. The words actually matter, the keywords that people are looking up. So back to Meta, it's more about what videos organically have people commented on, liked, shared, what things are those? That's key. And Google, it's more about the keywords of what people have actually physically typed in the search bar that says like pelvic floor therapy near me or leakage with pregnancy. Okay, that is what we're talking about. Those are called keywords. Words that people are actually using. With Meta, the hooks drive the results. That's key, the actual hook. So the hooks are so important whether or not it's organic social media, because you're going to take the organic and put it into Meta, or you're running it just purely on Meta. For Google, it's search terms plus Page speed. So how quickly does your page load? Whether or not it's a funnel website, it's got to be under two seconds or less. Otherwise, they will give you an X and not show your ads to people. And if your search terms are irrelevant, meaning that you put search terms of dog food. And then you bring up a website that has dog toys, Google is gonna say, eh, you're out. Like, that doesn't match. So you have to make sure that everything very specifically matches for Google to say you're in good standing, I'm gonna show you to people. Okay, for Meta, you can turn on and off Meta ads without being penalized. Okay, Google, however, you really need to be consistent with Google, and it takes anywhere between 6 weeks to about 12 weeks to really see a return with Google when starting out. So you must be patient with Google. It's not going to get you clients like that, and neither is Meta, by the way, even though online people just assume that there's going to be like a fairy coming by and just giving you a patient tomorrow and dropping a patient in your lap. That's not how this stuff works. Um, and so it takes time to audit and study and perfect and get better with the words and all the things. Okay, Meta. Let's go back to Meta. You pay just to get reach, meaning just to get people to scroll past your thing and say, oh, I saw it, but they didn't click on it. They just are scrolling and they saw your thing. So I say Meta, you pay to just get eyeballs. Even if they don't even stop to read it and they scroll past it, you get charged. Just so you know, Google, it's pay-per-click, meaning you pay when someone actually clicks. They have to go and click on your ad and then you pay for that. Okay, Meta is going to be more cold traffic. So that means it takes longer to pull people from Facebook because you have to think about this. Facebook people are not going to Facebook to get their problems solved. They're there to be entertained or hang out with their friends or talk to their friends, whatever else. You guys gotta remember that they're not there to get a problem solved. So it's gonna take them longer, we call this a sales cycle, it's gonna take them longer to go from cold to warm to hot and then actually become a client. Comparatively, Google, is going to be more higher intent, which means they are physically searching in Google pelvic floor therapy near me, means that they are going to come into you faster, they're going to get help faster, and you're going to be able to get them as a client quicker. On the flip side, let's go back to Meta. Meta typically has a bigger pool of people, meaning you typically use meta to target broader audiences. So you gotta cast your net, meaning if there is 1,000 fish in the pond, you're casting it to those 1,000 fish. And out of those 1,000 fish, you're seeing who is actually stopping on your ad, but you're gonna cast a wider net. Comparatively, Google has a smaller pool of people. It's only going to show you, or they're only going to click on people— there's only a certain amount of people clicking on the ad that says leakage. So there's only a certain amount of number of people, guys, every single month that are literally searching pelvic floor therapy near me, leakage near me. Like, there's only a small small pool of those people, and that's Google. Meta is typically going to cost you less. Google is going to cost you more per lead. Why? Google has higher likelihood that someone will become your client. Meta, because it's a more broader audience, typically, not always, but typically, is going to cost you less because you're just trying to get eyeballs. Now, that all depends on the campaigns you're running. Okay, I'm not trying to get— I'm not trying to get too technical here on this. I'm trying to give you the quick and easy of the difference between running Meta and running Google Ads. Now, if you are a brick-and-mortar practice, I highly recommend you running actual both. You could not run one. I mean, you can, but I would recommend against it. Here's my reasoning. Meta, remember, casts a wide net. So you're gonna get the people that are unaware that they have a problem and that think leaking is normal and think that they just wear pads and that's okay. You're gonna get those people. You're not gonna get those people from Google. The Google people you're gonna get that are like, oh shit, I do have a problem, I pee my pants, shit, I need her right now. Like That's it. And so like, those are the people you're gonna get from Google. So think of Meta as the people that are the bigger pool that are unaware that they have a problem. Now it's gonna take them longer to come in. However, you're getting all those, those 1,000 fish in the pond. You're not leaving one behind. You're getting all of them. Okay? And Google is getting the people that are ready to go, that are ready to act now. So if you just do Google, then you're only getting a smaller pool of the people that are ready to go now. If you're just doing meta, you are just getting a wider net that people are not ready to go now. And so now you can't get current clients really to come in that fast. Okay, so be mindful of that. I highly recommend, um, doing both if you are an— especially for brick and mortar. If you are an online business doing therapy, then I recommend you running Meta. Okay, you could also do Google as well, but Meta is where— that means Facebook and Instagram. Okay, that is where you're going to get most of your traffic from online. So guys, hopefully this helped give you a quick episode on the difference between Meta versus Google. In very simple terms and break— broken down and why both are important and when and how you should use it. All right, guys, till next time. Bye-bye. Bye.
