One of the most common questions we get from financial brand clients: "Should we be on Google or Meta?"
The answer is almost always both. But the allocation, strategy, and expectations should be very different for each.
Google Ads: Capturing Intent
Google Ads excels at capturing people who are already looking for what you offer. When someone searches "best prop firm 2026" or "funded trading account," they're in buying mode.
Best for:
- High-intent keywords with commercial intent
- Brand defense (bidding on your own name)
- Competitor conquesting
- Retargeting search abandoners
Our results: Across our Google Ads accounts, we're averaging 5.27 ROAS with $7.89M in tracked revenue.
Meta Ads: Creating Demand
Meta is where you create demand that didn't exist before. Most traders aren't actively searching for a new prop firm at any given moment. But the right ad, shown at the right time, can change that.
The key to Meta success is understanding who you're actually targeting at the persona level — not just demographics. And the creative needs to speak the trader's language, not generic marketing speak.
Best for:
- Top-of-funnel awareness
- Lookalike audience expansion
- Video-driven storytelling
- Retargeting website visitors
Our results: Meta accounts are running at 4.88 ROAS with consistent month-over-month scaling. We detail our full Meta approach in the 2026 Meta Ads Playbook.
The Allocation Framework
Here's our general framework for financial brands:
| Stage | Meta | |
|---|---|---|
| Launch (Month 1-2) | 60% | 40% |
| Growth (Month 3-6) | 45% | 55% |
| Scale (Month 6+) | 40% | 60% |
This shifts as you build audience data on Meta and can leverage lookalikes more effectively. Seasonal trends also influence allocation — during high-intent periods like Q1, Google's share may increase temporarily.
The Key Takeaway
Don't think of it as Google vs. Meta. Think of it as intent capture vs. demand creation. You need both engines running to scale profitably. The firms that understand this — and pair it with the right trust, psychology, and spend framework — are the ones scaling past $500K/month.