You're sitting in a partners' meeting, staring at a $15,000 monthly marketing budget, and someone asks the question that derails the next 45 minutes: ‘Should we be spending more on Google or Facebook?’
The marketing agency says ‘both.’ Your practice manager wants more leads. Your senior associate is drowning in low-quality enquiries, and you're wondering why this decision feels harder than it should be.
Most comparison articles treat Google Ads and Facebook Ads like they're competing for the same job. They're not. One is a high-intent conversion machine, while the other is a brand-building and nurturing engine. The question isn't which one is ‘better’, it's which one solves your specific problem right now.
After scaling multiple law firms in-house and working with dozens of Australian service businesses at Leadtree, I've seen this decision play out hundreds of times. Let's cut through the noise and give you a framework that actually works.
The Fundamental Difference (That Most Agencies Won't Tell You)
Google Ads and Facebook Ads operate on completely different user psychology, and understanding this is critical before you allocate a single dollar.
Google Ads captures demand. Someone searches ‘family lawyer Brisbane’ or ‘emergency dentist near me.’ They have a problem right now, and they're actively looking for a solution. You're bidding to be visible at the exact moment of intent. This is why Google Ads typically delivers higher cost-per-click (CPC) but also significantly higher conversion rates for service firms. You're paying for proximity to a decision.
Facebook Ads create demand. Someone is scrolling their feed, looking at photos of their mate's holiday, and your ad appears. They weren't thinking about estate planning or orthodontics five seconds ago. You're interrupting their day with a message that needs to be compelling enough to shift their attention. This is why Facebook Ads offers lower CPC and broader demographic targeting. You're paying for attention, not intent.
The conventional wisdom says, ‘Facebook is for awareness, Google is for conversions.’ That's not wrong, but it's incomplete. Facebook can drive conversions if you're willing to nurture leads properly, and Google can build your brand if you're strategic about your keyword targeting and can be creative. But their natural strengths are distinct, and fighting against those strengths is expensive.
Google Ads: The High-Intent Conversion Machine
When we work with legal, healthcare and financial advice businesses, Google Ads consistently delivers the highest-quality leads, the ones that actually turn into paying clients or patients. Based on our experience, Google Ads range from $150 to $350, but these leads convert at significantly higher rates than Facebook leads.
Where Google Ads wins:
- Immediate, high-value matters or patients. If you're a personal injury lawyer, a cosmetic dentist or a financial adviser specialising in SMSF advice, Google Ads puts you in front of people who are actively searching for your exact service. They're comparing options, not browsing casually.
- Targeting high-intent keywords. You can bid on specific search terms that indicate purchase readiness. ‘Hire family lawyer Sydney,’ ‘dental implants cost Melbourne,’ ‘financial adviser near me.’ This level of intent doesn't exist on Facebook.
- Integration with the search funnel. Google Ads offers deeper integration with search funnel and CRM data, enabling easier tracking of which keywords drive not just leads, but also revenue. You can see exactly which search terms led to a $50,000 conveyancing matter or a $15,000 orthodontic case.
Where Google Ads struggles:
- Cost. High-intent keywords in competitive markets (legal, healthcare, finance) can run $20–$100 per click in major Australian cities. If your conversion rate isn't dialled in, you'll quickly burn through your budget.
- Limited brand-building. Google Ads is transactional. You're not building long-term relationships or nurturing leads who aren't ready to buy today. Once the click happens, you've got one shot to convert.
- Operational strain from low-quality enquiries. Most agencies won’t tell you that even with Google Ads, you'll get low-quality leads if your keyword targeting and landing pages aren't tight. We've seen law firms in Brisbane get flooded with ‘free legal advice’ searches that never convert, or dental practices in Melbourne that get clicks from people price-shopping who'll never book.
The key to making Google Ads work is ruthless keyword discipline and landing page optimisation. You need to exclude negative keywords (e.g., ‘free,' 'cheap,’ ‘DIY') and ensure your landing pages qualify leads before they hit your intake team. Otherwise, you're just paying for the privilege of wasting your staff's time.
Facebook Ads: The Brand-Building and Nurturing Engine
Facebook Ads (which includes Instagram) operates in a completely different universe. Here, you’re creating demand, and for the right service businesses, that's incredibly powerful.
Where Facebook Ads wins:
- Brand awareness and long-term nurturing. If you're a financial planning firm trying to build a reputation in a specific suburb or a dental practice launching a new location, Facebook Ads lets you stay top-of-mind with potential clients over weeks or months. You can retarget website visitors, build lookalike audiences and nurture leads who aren't ready to convert today.
- Lower cost-per-click and broader reach. Facebook Ads CPL typically ranges from $15 - $40 for Australian service firms, lower than Google Ads. You can reach more people for the same budget, which is valuable if you're trying to build awareness or test new markets.
- Demographic and interest targeting. Facebook's targeting options are unmatched. You can target parents of young children (for family law or paediatric dentistry), high-income professionals in specific postcodes (for financial advice) or people who've recently moved house (for conveyancing). Google can't do this.
- Creative flexibility. Facebook Ads lets you tell stories and use video in ways that Google Search Ads simply can't. This is powerful for service businesses where trust and credibility are everything.
Where Facebook Ads struggles:
- Lower conversion rates and lead quality. Facebook Ads can flood your team with lower-quality leads if targeting is too broad. We've seen allied health practices get dozens of enquiries from people who never show up for appointments, and law firms get ‘tyre-kickers’ who want free advice but won't engage a lawyer.
- Longer sales cycles. Because you're interrupting people who weren't actively searching, Facebook leads take longer to convert. They need more nurturing, more follow-up and more patience. If your business model requires immediate conversions, Facebook Ads will frustrate you.
- Creative fatigue. Facebook users see the same ad multiple times, and performance drops fast if you're not rotating creatives and A/B testing. This requires more ongoing creative work than Google Ads, where a solid landing page can run for months.
- Regulatory limitations. Australian legal and healthcare advertising is subject to strict regulations regarding claims, privacy and targeting. Recent industry body guidance requires clear disclosure of paid advertising and prohibits misleading claims, especially in legal and health sectors. This limits what you can say and who you can target on Facebook, particularly for sensitive services like personal injury law or mental health.
The key to making Facebook Ads work is using lookalike audiences and retargeting to improve lead quality and being prepared to nurture leads over time. If you're expecting Facebook to deliver the same immediate conversions as Google, you'll be disappointed.
The Budget Allocation Framework (Based on Real Australian Service Firms)
Now let's get practical. You've got $3,000 to $30,000 per month to spend. How do you split it?
Scenario 1: You need high-value matters or patients NOW
If you're a new practice, you've got capacity to fill, or you're in a highly competitive market where immediate conversions matter, you should substantially lean towards Google Ads.
Budget split: 70–80% Google Ads, 20–30% Facebook Ads
Why: Google Ads will deliver the fastest ROI. Use Facebook Ads purely for retargeting people who visited your website but didn't convert, and for building a small audience for future nurturing.
Example: A personal injury law firm in Sydney with 3 partners and capacity for 20 new matters per month. They need high-value cases fast. They allocate $18,000 to Google Ads (targeting ‘car accident lawyer Sydney,’ ‘workers compensation claim’) and $6,000 to Facebook Ads (retargeting website visitors and running testimonial videos to build trust).
Scenario 2: You're established and want to grow brand awareness
If you're a well-known practice in your area and you want to expand into new suburbs or service lines, lean towards Facebook Ads.
Budget split: 40–50% Google Ads, 50–60% Facebook Ads
Why: You're not desperate for immediate conversions. You want to build long-term brand equity and nurture leads who aren't ready to convert today. Google Ads maintains your presence for high-intent searches, but Facebook does the heavy lifting on awareness.
Example: A financial planning firm in Melbourne with 10 advisers and a strong reputation in the eastern suburbs. They want to expand into the northern suburbs. They allocate $8,000 to Google Ads (maintaining visibility for ‘financial adviser Melbourne’) and $12,000 to Facebook Ads (targeting high-income professionals in northern postcodes with educational content about retirement planning).
Scenario 3: You're balancing immediate conversions and long-term growth
This is where most Australian service firms sit. You need new clients or patients, but you also want to build a pipeline for the future.
Budget split: 55–60% Google Ads, 40–45% Facebook Ads
Why: This is the ‘Goldilocks’ allocation. Google Ads delivers the immediate conversions you need to justify the spend, while Facebook Ads builds your brand and nurtures leads who'll convert in 3–6 months.
Example: A dental practice in Brisbane with 4 dentists and a hygienist. They allocate $9,000 to Google Ads (targeting ‘dentist near me,’ ‘dental implants Brisbane,’ ‘emergency dentist’) and $6,000 to Facebook Ads (running educational content about preventative care, retargeting website visitors, and building lookalike audiences from existing patients).
The Operational Reality
We've worked with law firms that got 200 enquiries per month from Facebook Ads and converted 5% of them into paying clients. That's 10 new matters, great. But it also means 190 enquiries that your intake team had to field, qualify and follow up on.
Compare that to a firm that got 50 enquiries per month from Google Ads and converted 20% of them. Same 10 new matters, but 75% less operational strain.
This is why lead quality matters more than lead volume, especially for service businesses where your team's time is your most valuable asset. If you're going to lean into Facebook Ads, you need systems in place to qualify leads quickly (automated email sequences, chatbots, intake forms) and the discipline to disqualify bad-fit prospects fast.
The firms that succeed with Facebook Ads are the ones that treat it as a nurturing engine instead of a conversion machine. They use automated email sequences to educate leads over time, retarget website visitors with case studies and testimonials and only push for a booking once the lead has engaged multiple times. This takes patience and infrastructure, but it works.
How to Choose: The Decision Matrix
Let's make this concrete. Here's how to decide where to allocate your next $10,000.
Choose Google Ads if:
- You need immediate conversions (new matters, patients, clients)
- Your service is something people actively search for (e.g., ‘hire lawyer,’ ‘book dentist,’ ‘find financial adviser’)
- You have high-value transactions that justify a higher CPL ($50+ per lead)
- Your team can handle lower lead volume, but wants higher quality
- You're in a competitive market where being visible at the moment of intent is critical
Choose Facebook Ads if:
- You're building brand awareness or launching a new location/service line
- Your service has a longer sales cycle (e.g., financial planning, preventative healthcare, estate planning)
- You want to nurture leads over time and build a pipeline for future conversions
- You have systems in place to qualify and follow up on higher lead volume
- You're targeting specific demographics or interests that Google can't reach
Use both if:
- You have the budget for both ($10k+ per month)
- You want to balance immediate conversions (Google) with long-term brand building (Facebook)
- You're willing to invest in retargeting and nurturing infrastructure
- You understand that each platform serves a different purpose, and you're not expecting them to deliver the same results
When Facebook Ads Can Outperform Google
In certain situations, Facebook Ads can actually deliver better ROI than Google Ads, even for high-value service businesses.
We've seen this work for:
- Niche or new markets. If you're launching a new service line (e.g., cosmetic injectables in a dental practice, NDIS planning in a financial advice firm), there may not be enough search volume on Google to justify the spend. Facebook Ads lets you create demand where none existed.
- Highly refined targeting. If your ideal client is very specific (e.g., high-net-worth retirees in a particular suburb, parents of children with special needs), Facebook's demographic and interest targeting can outperform Google's broad keyword targeting.
- Community engagement. Some service businesses thrive on building a community and nurturing relationships over time. Facebook Ads (especially when combined with organic content and engagement) can build this in ways Google never will.
If you're running generic ‘Book a consultation’ ads to a broad audience, Facebook Ads will underperform. But if you're running highly targeted ads with creative testimonials, case studies or educational content to a narrow audience, Facebook can surprise you.
The Bottom Line: It's Not Either/Or, It's Both (But Weighted)
The firms that get the best results from paid media are the ones that go all-in. They're the ones that understand what each platform does well, allocate budget accordingly and build systems to handle the operational reality of lead flow.
If you're spending $3,000–$10,000 per month, start with 70% Google Ads and 30% Facebook Ads. Get your Google Ads conversion machine dialled in first with tighter keyword targeting, strong landing pages and clear calls-to-action. Once that's working, layer in Facebook Ads for retargeting and awareness.
If you're spending $10,000–$30,000 per month, move towards the 55–60% Google / 40–45% Facebook split. You've got the budget to do both properly, and the combination of immediate conversions (Google) and long-term nurturing (Facebook) will give you the best ROI.
And if you're still not sure? Look at your current lead flow. If you're getting enough enquiries but they're low quality, double down on Google Ads and tighten your targeting. If you're not getting enough enquiries at all, add Facebook Ads to build awareness and create demand.
The worst decision you can make is to split your budget 50/50 without a clear strategy for what each platform is supposed to achieve. That's how you end up with mediocre results from both and no clear path forward.
Ready to build a paid media strategy that actually delivers high-value clients? Leadtree specialises in Google Ads and Facebook Ads for Australian service businesses, law firms, dental practices, allied health and financial advice firms. We build full-funnel systems that attract and convert the right leads. Book a 15-minute free call to discuss how we can help: https://calendly.com/leadtreemarketing/30min
