How understanding each platform’s unique role can transform your e-commerce marketing strategy

“Should we be running Google Ads or Facebook Ads?” It’s completely understandable why this question comes up so often – budgets are tight, and you want to put your money where it’ll work hardest.

But here’s the thing: your ad platforms work best when they’re not competing for your budget, but collaborating to create a proper customer journey.

Each one has its own strengths, and when you understand what those are, you can use them together to guide your customers from complete strangers to loyal buyers.

The Customer Journey Isn’t Linear

Today’s customers are doing what we call the “digital dance” – they’re bouncing between platforms, researching on their phones whilst watching telly, comparing prices on their laptops, and maybe finally purchasing on their tablets three weeks later. It’s mental, but it’s reality.

This is precisely why different ad platforms excel at different stages of this journey. They’re not competitors; they’re specialists.

Google Ads: The Answer Machine

Google is where people go when they’ve got questions or they’re ready to buy. Someone searching for “best running shoes for flat feet” or “buy iPhone 15 Pro” isn’t mucking about – they’re in the market.

Google’s superpower: Catching people when they’re actively looking for what you sell.

Best for:

• Capturing demand that already exists
• Bottom-funnel conversions
• Branded searches
• Product-specific queries

Think of Google as your shop’s front door. When someone’s walking down the high street looking for exactly what you sell, Google makes sure they can find you. Brilliant for conversions, but not quite so well-built for creating desire where none existed before.

Meta: The Inspiration Engine

Meta platforms are where people go to be entertained, to connect, and frankly, to procrastinate. They’re not actively shopping – they’re scrolling, liking, and discovering.

But here’s the thing: this is where you can catch people’s attention and plant seeds. Meta’s targeting is absolutely mental in the best way – they know more about your potential customers than your customers know about themselves.

Meta’s superpower: Creating demand and desire where none existed before.

Best for:

• Building brand awareness
• Introducing new products
• Retargeting website visitors
• Creative storytelling
• Lookalike audiences

Meta is like having a brilliant sales assistant who can spot your ideal customer across a crowded room and start up a conversation about something they didn’t even know they needed.

TikTok: The Trend Setter

TikTok is the new kid on the block, and it has huge potential for advertisers. It’s where culture happens, where trends are born, and where Gen Z and younger millennials spend their time.

TikTok’s superpower: Viral potential and authentic engagement with younger demographics.

Best for:

• Reaching Gen Z and younger millennials
• Creative, authentic content
• Trend-based marketing
• Building cultural relevance

Pinterest: The Dreamer’s Paradise

Pinterest is where people go to plan, dream, and organise their future selves. Planning a wedding? Pinterest. Redecorating the living room? Pinterest. Looking for dinner inspiration? You get the idea.

Pinterest’s superpower: Catching people in the planning and inspiration phase.

Best for:

• Lifestyle and aspirational products
• Long purchase consideration cycles
• Home, fashion, food, and wedding industries
• Visual storytelling

YouTube: The Deep Dive Platform

YouTube is where people go to learn, be entertained, and get detailed information. It’s perfect for explaining complex products or building deeper connections through longer-form content.

YouTube’s superpower: In-depth engagement and education.

Best for:

• Complex or high-consideration products
• Educational content
• Brand storytelling
• Reaching people during their research phase

How They All Work Together

Right, here’s where it gets interesting. Instead of these platforms fighting each other, they should be working together. Here’s how a proper customer journey might look:

Stage 1: Awareness (Meta, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube)

Sarah discovers your sustainable activewear brand through a beautifully shot Instagram ad whilst scrolling during her lunch break. She thinks “Oh, that’s nice” but doesn’t click – she’s not ready to buy yet.

Stage 2: Consideration (YouTube, Meta Retargeting, Pinterest)

A few days later, Sarah sees your brand again – this time as a YouTube pre-roll ad featuring a mini-documentary about sustainable fashion. Now she’s interested. She visits your website to have a look around.

Stage 3: Research (Google Ads, Meta Retargeting)

Sarah starts googling “sustainable activewear reviews” and “best eco-friendly workout clothes.” Your Google Ads appear for these searches. Meanwhile, she’s seeing your retargeting ads on Instagram and Facebook, showing her the specific products she looked at.

Stage 4: Decision (Google Shopping, Remarketing across all platforms)

Finally, Sarah searches for your brand name directly and clicks on your Google Shopping ad to make her purchase. She’s been nurtured across multiple touch-points and platforms over several weeks.

The crucial bit: Sarah’s conversion will likely be attributed to Google (last-click), but Meta, YouTube, and your retargeting campaigns all played vital roles. Without that initial Instagram impression, she might never have discovered you at all.

The Attribution Headache

Here’s the rub: most businesses only see the last click before conversion. So in Sarah’s case, Google gets all the credit, and you might think “Right, let’s put all our money into Google Ads!”

But that would be absolutely barmy. Without those earlier touch-points creating awareness and building trust, Google would have nothing to convert.

This is why we always bang on about looking at your data holistically. Yes, Google might show the best ROI on paper, but it’s often the platforms higher up the funnel that are doing the heavy lifting to create that demand in the first place.

Getting Your Platform Mix Right

So how do you actually put this into practice? Here’s our approach:

Start with Your Customer Journey

Map out how your customers actually discover and purchase from you. Are they impulse buyers or do they research for months? Are they finding you through recommendations or actively searching? This will determine your platform mix.

Allocate Budget by Funnel Stage

• Top of funnel (Awareness): 30-40% of budget
• Middle of funnel (Consideration): 20-30% of budget
• Bottom of funnel (Conversion): 30-40% of budget

Test and Learn

Start with where your customers are, but don’t be afraid to test new platforms. TikTok might seem mad for your B2B software company, but you won’t know until you try.

Measure What Matters

Look beyond last-click attribution. Use tools like Google Analytics’ attribution models, Facebook’s view-through conversions, and first-party data to understand the full picture.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

The “All In” Mistake: Putting your entire budget into one platform because it shows the best ROI. You’re missing out on all the customers who haven’t discovered you yet.

The “Spray and Pray” Mistake: Running the same campaigns across every platform without considering each platform’s strengths. Your LinkedIn ad creative probably won’t work on TikTok.

The “Set and Forget” Mistake: Not optimising for each platform’s specific audience and behaviour. What works on Google won’t necessarily work on Pinterest.

The “Attribution Trap”: Only looking at last-click data and missing the full customer journey.

The Bottom Line

Your ad platforms aren’t competitors – they’re collaborators in the grand mission of turning strangers into customers. Each one has a role to play, and when they work together properly, the results can be absolutely brilliant.