That distinction determines almost everything else about how the two behave. A search advertisement appears at the moment somebody typed a problem, which means the audience is small, expensive per click, and disproportionately likely to buy. A social advertisement appears while somebody is doing something else, which means the audience is large, cheap per click, and mostly uninterested.
For a first year business the intent advantage usually wins, because you cannot afford to educate a market. Somebody searching for an emergency plumber in your area is worth considerably more than somebody who fits the demographic profile of a homeowner, and the cost per click reflects that without changing the conclusion. Paying more for the right person is the better trade when the budget is small.
The exception is where nobody searches for what you sell. Genuinely new products, categories people do not have a name for, and anything bought on impulse rather than through a decision process cannot be reached through search, because the query does not exist. In those cases social is not merely the better option, it is the only one.
Visual products are the second exception and it is a real one. Anything where seeing it creates the desire, such as food, clothing, homeware, or a distinctive physical space, performs on social in a way that a text advertisement cannot replicate. If your product photographs well and the appeal is immediate, that changes the calculation.
Consider what happens after the click, because it differs more than the platforms suggest. Search traffic arrives ready to act and needs a page that lets them. Social traffic arrives curious and needs something lighter, and pointing it at a page asking for a substantial commitment converts poorly regardless of how good the advertisement was.
Start with one rather than both, which is the practical advice for any budget a first year business can sustain. Splitting a small amount across two platforms produces insufficient data on either, and you end the test knowing nothing. Enough spend on one channel for two or three months answers a question.
Test the highest intent search terms first if you go that route, meaning the phrases containing your service and your location. Those are the cheapest to convert and they tell you within weeks whether people who want exactly what you sell will actually contact you, which is information worth more than the immediate revenue.
Then judge by cost per enquiry rather than by cost per click, since the platforms optimise for the second and you care about the first. A channel producing clicks at a fraction of the price and no enquiries is more expensive than the one that looks costly, and only conversion tracking makes that visible.
Check whether your competitors are advertising on either before committing, since that tells you something about what works in your category. A search results page full of advertisements for your service means somebody has found it profitable, and an empty one means either an opportunity or a channel nobody has made work.
Start with a budget you would not miss, because the first month is research rather than growth. Enough spend to generate a few hundred clicks answers whether the traffic converts, and treating that figure as the cost of an answer rather than as an investment sets the right expectation for what it will produce.