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Where Should B2B Spend on Social Advertising

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Paid programmatic marketing on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn are hot topics right now for both B2B and B2C companies trying to take advantage of the massive boom in social media advertising. But B2B and B2C can be vastly different creatures in the ways they use social channels for advertising. Not only that, they are driven by different motives for their social ad campaigns. For consumer brands, widespread visibility and loyal viewership are key metrics that funnel all the way down to measurable conversions. However, in the B2B arena, the numbers are very different. The growth of just a couple of customers can mean millions in new revenue. This is why all those views, the shiny objects, and the vanity metrics may mean less for a B2B marketer.

Picking the Right Platform

But does that mean, in B2B, you shouldn't pay attention to building the funnel? Not at all. In fact, B2B firms are always looking to attract a super-targeted audience— a lot more than consumer brands—because unlike B2C, they can’t sell their products to just anyone. Also, in B2B, purchase decisions are made over a longer period and the buying cycle is painfully slow.

In social advertising, the landscape has drastically changed. Getting results from social media now involves a financial investment. Social media is, more than ever, pushing the user from organic to paid reach. Naturally, B2B brands need to think twice about where to spend their money. Rather than investing time and money on every social channel, marketers need to ask questions: Which platforms give the best results for B2B? Where can we get the best bang for our buck?

LinkedIn Comes Out on Top

Being a business-centric channel, LinkedIn was always at the forefront of B2B social media activity. This was when other social sites like Facebook and Twitter were busy catering to the B2C users and didn’t put effort into the more serious and somber B2B users. There was also a marked difference in the way people perceived LinkedIn compared to other social sites. Sometimes called “Facebook for grownups,” LinkedIn was acceptable in the workplace, while Facebook and Twitter were either blocked or seen as something you didn’t want to be caught wasting time on while at work. Times have changed. Facebook at Work and Twitter for Business shattered these social sites’ strictly consumer image.

Statistics Show LinkedIn on Top… Um… Make that Facebook… Ummm…Yeah, LinkedIn

How are the top social sites positioned in the B2B landscape? According to the B2B Content Marketing 2015 Benchmarks report, LinkedIn still rules the B2B roost. The survey showed nearly 94 percent of the B2B businesses use LinkedIn, with B2B marketers considering the social platform to be most effective.

Another study by Eccolo Media, however, tells a slightly different story. According to their survey, Facebook beat LinkedIn by a small margin in terms of useful content. Thirty-four percent of respondents said they found useful vendor content on Facebook, compared to 32 percent who said the same about LinkedIn.

Why LinkedIn is Best for B2B

While I do believe that Facebook and Twitter have come a long way with their targeting and social advertising capabilities for B2B, I think LinkedIn is still more relevant for B2B marketers for one reason: A larger chance of targeting your audience. Without the distractions Facebook or Twitter brings along, LinkedIn offers a better platform on which to engage with the right prospects. This is extremely important since you obviously want a more focused approach in your campaigns when you’re spending money.

Another reason why I recommend using LinkedIn is the Sponsored Updates, its native ad feature. This feature allows you to launch more targeted and specific campaigns to your preferred demographics than regular ads. And the more targeted your campaign is, the better ROI you stand to gain from your marketing efforts.

Cost-effectiveness could be another reason to choose LinkedIn. For instance, on Twitter, you are billed for almost every interaction involved in a sponsored tweet. LinkedIn doesn’t charge you extra if someone likes, shares, or comments on your sponsored updates. Obviously, all that additional sharing is always beneficial.

At the end of the day, B2B marketers should definitely try out several social media channels to find out which ones suit their business model best. However, many times, it’s the stoic “grandfather” of the bunch that proves to be the most successful all along. In this case, LinkedIn hasn’t lost any of its power in the B2B social marketplace.

Image: Creative Commons

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