When it comes to strategizing online media campaigns, it’s easy to fall in love with Facebook. The blue-bordered behemoth not only gets more traffic than a Chinese super highway, it lets us, the lovable advertisers of the world, target our ads in ways previously thought impossible. By knowing the age, gender, location, school, work place, sexual preference and interests of all its 3 gagillion+ users, Facebook lets you craft ads that walk right into your demographic’s house and put their feet up on the dining room table. So that’s it, right? Facebook ads are the greatest ads ever and they can beat up your ads. Well, not exactly. The defense calls to the stand Google AdWords. Google AdWords, are another form of cost-per-click (CPC) ad unit only they operate a bit differently than Facebook. Rather than appearing to only select users who fit a mold, they are only shown when users Google, or search to the laymen, for select terms. This means that as a BBQ sauce company, I can choose to only show my ads to people who are looking for “delicious ribs” or “creepy ways to spend a Saturday night with your dog.” So how does this advertising model stack up against Facebook? The answer is simply a question of stated versus actual interest. Here’s an example: let’s say you are secretly obsessed with show tunes, but as the captain of the football team, you’d rather be beaten with a sack of rusty nickels than have that information get out. So you do everything in your power to keep this private infatuation on the low, which certainly includes not posting “Hello Dolly” as your Favorite Music on your Facebook profile. However, when it’s late and nobody is home, you may find yourself googling the lyrics to “Oklahoma.” As a distributor of show tune karaoke CD’s, we’d have no idea that you were an interested consumer if we advertised solely on Facebook. Google on the other hand would basically give us the keys to your car. The point is that while Facebook presents companies with an unparalleled opportunity to target media, it doesn’t necessarily reach all of your brand’s potential consumers. However, the same can be said for Google AdWords. So ultimately it can be concluded that if you are planning on running a targeted and cost-efficient advertising campaign, the key is run both a SEM and social network campaign. Sound complex? It is. Which is exactly why if you want to do this you should Meet Jane first.