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Chapter 2 of 5

The platforms, their role and priority

There is no fixed number of platforms you must use. Once you group them by the job they do, it is obvious which ones you need and the order to add them in.

6 min read · Chapter 2 of 5

People often ask how many platforms they need, as if there were a set list. There is not. New advertising channels appear every year, and the ones you have heard of (Google Ads, Meta, TikTok and the rest) are separate products with separate logins, built by different companies to solve different problems. Sharing the "Google" name does not mean two of them talk to each other, and there is no prize for using all of them.

Think in terms of role: the job a platform does in your marketing. There are only a handful of roles, and most businesses need two to four platforms in total. Once you can name the roles, you can tell which platforms earn their place, and in what order to add them.

The platforms, at a glance

Where to show up, in order

Left to right is roughly the order to add them: the free backbone, then the paid channel that fits your customers, then everything else once the core is profitable.

Start hereAdd when ready
GA4Measure your site.
Search ConsoleSearch visibility.
Google AdsCapture existing demand.
MetaCreate new demand.
TikTokDiscovery, add later.
Merchant CenterShopping feed, for stores.

Start on the left with free measurement, then the one paid channel that matches how your customers find you. Add everything to the right once the basics are profitable.

The four roles

What each platform is for

Every channel, including ones not named here, does one of these four jobs. Name the job and you can place any platform.

Role one · Measure

The measurement backbone

Before any advertising, know what happens on your website. GA4 records every visit and whether it became a goal; Search Console covers the step before the click: which searches you appear for and how often people click.

Both are free, and every paid platform is read through them, so set them up first.

  • Key events (conversions) in GA4, your counted wins
  • Sessions and engagement rate, how much real traffic you get
  • Clicks, impressions and position in Search Console

Role two · Capture

Demand capture

Demand capture reaches people who are already looking. With Google Ads you pay per click to appear at the top of results for chosen keywords. Intent is high, so this role usually pays back first. Microsoft Ads does the same job on Bing, often cheaper, and is worth testing once Google is working.

  • Clicks and cost, visitors and spend
  • Cost per conversion, total cost divided by results
  • ROAS, revenue divided by spend, for stores

Role three · Create

Demand creation

Demand creation puts you in front of people who are not searching yet. Meta (Facebook and Instagram) targets by interests and behaviour rather than a search term, so creative and audience matter more than keywords. TikTok, Pinterest and LinkedIn play the same role. Pick the one where your customers spend time, prove it, then consider a second.

  • Reach and impressions, who saw the ad and how often
  • Results, the count of your chosen objective
  • Cost per result, spend divided by results

Role four · Support

Product feed and presence

Two platforms support the others. Google Merchant Center matters only if you sell physical products: it holds your catalogue and feeds Google Shopping, and errors there can stop products showing without warning. Google Business Profile is the free listing in Maps and local search, and for a local business it often earns more calls than any paid channel.

  • Active vs disapproved products and feed errors in Merchant Center
  • Calls, direction requests and website clicks from Business Profile

Quick reference

The platforms by role, cost and intricacy

Grouped by who runs them. Click any platform to see what it does, who it is for and the budget it needs.

Google Measurement, search, Shopping
RoleMeasurementMeasurementDemand captureProduct feedLocal presence
CostFreeFreePaidFree*Free
Intricacy

Meta Paid ads and organic presence
RoleDemand creationOrganic presenceOrganic presence
CostPaidFreeFree
Intricacy

Other Second search channel, social ads
RoleDemand captureDemand creation
CostPaidPaid
Intricacy

Intricacy is a rough guide to how much there is to learn and maintain. Google Ads also runs Shopping, fed by Merchant Center. "Social ads" means TikTok, Pinterest and LinkedIn. *Merchant Center is free; the Shopping ads it powers are paid.

Priority

The order to add them

The order is the same for almost every business. Adding a platform is easy; running four badly is the common mistake.

  1. 1 Start with the free measurement backbone.

    GA4 and Search Console, plus Business Profile if you are local. They are free and make everything after them readable.
  2. 2 Add the one demand channel that fits your customers.

    If they search for what you sell, start with demand capture. If they discover by scrolling, start with demand creation. Stores add Merchant Center here so Shopping can run.
  3. 3 Prove it before you add more.

    Hold that channel steady until you know its cost per result. Only then add a second, such as Bing alongside Google, or Meta alongside Search.

Common questions

Frequently asked

Do the Google products share data with each other automatically?

No. GA4, Google Ads, Search Console and Merchant Center are separate products with separate logins. They can be linked so data flows between them (Google Ads to GA4 is the important one), but that is a step you set up, not something that happens on its own.

Which platform pays back the fastest?

Usually demand capture, meaning search ads (Google Ads, and Microsoft Ads on Bing). Because you are reaching people who are already looking for what you offer, intent is high and the first sales tend to come sooner than from platforms that create demand.

Do I need Meta if I already run Google Ads?

Not to start. They do different jobs: Google Ads captures existing demand, Meta creates new demand. Get one channel working and proven first, then add the other when you want to reach people who are not searching yet.

Is Microsoft Ads (Bing) worth bothering with?

Often yes, as a second step. It runs the same kind of search campaigns as Google Ads, usually at a lower cost per click and with less competition, so it is a sensible test once your Google Ads are working.

Do I need Google Merchant Center?

Only if you sell physical products online. It feeds your catalogue into Google Shopping. If you sell services or generate leads, you can skip it entirely.

Next: how much to start with on your first paid channel, what results are realistic, and how long to wait before judging them.

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