Google captures people who are already searching. Social media creates demand: it shows your business to people who didn't know they needed you yet. The two biggest options are Meta (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) and TikTok.
Both can work very well. The question is which one fits your business today, and what it takes to succeed on each.
Meta Ads: reach, targeting and WhatsApp
Meta remains one of the most complete advertising platforms in the world. It is a great fit when you want to:
- reach a wide range of ages, including adults with buying power;
- generate leads with instant forms or messages on WhatsApp and Instagram Direct;
- retarget people who visited your site or engaged with your content;
- sell products online with catalog ads.
For Latin businesses, WhatsApp is often the strongest conversion channel. Ads that open a WhatsApp conversation feel familiar to your customers and shorten the path from interest to sale.
TikTok Ads: attention and creativity
TikTok is built for discovery. People don't go there looking for a service, but they discover brands, products and ideas all the time. It is a great fit when:
- your product is visual or easy to demonstrate;
- your audience is younger or very active on short video;
- you can produce creative content often;
- you want to build a brand fast in a new market.
On TikTok, ads that look like ads usually perform poorly. What works is native content: real people, fast hooks in the first seconds, and videos that feel like they belong in the feed.
What both platforms have in common
Creative is the new targeting. Platform algorithms do a lot of the audience work automatically. Your job is to feed them strong, varied creative and test new ideas often.
Tracking decides everything. Both platforms learn from conversions. Without a properly installed pixel and server-side events, the algorithm optimizes for the wrong thing and results get worse over time.
Speak your customer's language. Bilingual creative, in English, Spanish or Portuguese, lets you reach communities that most brands ignore.
Our recommendation
Most businesses should start with one platform, prove it works, and then expand. We look at your product, your audience, your budget and your capacity to produce content before recommending a mix. Then we handle strategy, creative direction, campaign setup, testing and reporting, with every lead and sale tracked back to the ad that brought it.