LinkedIn vs. Facebook: A Comparison for B2B Advertising

The growth of the Internet into the advertising behemoth it is today has left many companies with a glut of advertising options. Everybody wants to get the most bang for their buck when they spend their marketing budget, so it’s essential to understand what platforms can offer.

Facebook and LinkedIn are two social media giants that offer excellent benefits to users to use their advertising tools. We will look at these tools, the demographics of each platform, and how they play into B2B advertising. We’ll explore how community engagement works on each platform, weigh the general needs of a B2B campaign, and decide which platform to invest your marketing dollars into.

At WebUp, we provide all the services and information you’ll need to run a successful B2B advertising campaign, regardless of which platform best suits your needs.

Social media’s role in B2B advertising

Social media has enormously impacted the digital marketing industry, but how effective is it for B2B advertising? Let’s find out.

Social media platforms provide the following valuable benefits for a B2B ad campaign:

• Generates leads: The sheer volume of people on social media at any given time means prospective customers will see your ads and a percentage will click on them, driving clicks to your website.
• Allows for client engagement: These platforms’ social nature will enable businesses to interact with individual clients or other companies. This engagement is excellent for building trust.
• Creates opportunities for data gathering: You can gather valuable information by paying attention to mentions about your business and conversations that discuss you, your competitors, and the industry.
• Strengthens relationships: You can strengthen bonds and build a community around your brand through interaction with clients and competitors.
• Builds brand recognition: By consistently posting and running quality ads on social media, you can build your brand reputation and gain widespread recognition.
• Helps to build a narrative: Storytelling is a powerful tool on social media. Using your ads to tell a story can help you connect with your audience on a more human level.

Demographic targeting

If you are choosing between Facebook and LinkedIn ads, you must first consider the demographics each platform caters to and your target audience. Which one has more of the people who need your service? Let’s explore these demographics to see which is better for you.

Facebook

Facebook is the second social media platform after MySpace. It is the most popular platform, with over 3 billion users worldwide. Its purpose as more of a general-use platform means that its users span multiple generations and have different reasons for using it.

The positive aspect of this characteristic is that its enormous user base helps your ads reach a diverse audience. However, as its origins are based on social interaction, you may find it more challenging to gain leads quickly from it, as 93% of users view it as a way to keep up with friends and family and connect with people instead of a B2B tool for solving their business challenges.

LinkedIn

This platform allows professionals in all fields to connect with each other, companies, and recruiters. It is the best platform for business networking, and people often use it to get jobs and push their businesses to the next level. As this is a place where millions of companies have a presence, it would be excellent for B2B marketing campaigns.

With 1 billion users, LinkedIn has a massive user base that you can market to. With its focus on professional networking, you will likely gain valuable leads as you are marketing to businesses instead of individuals.

Ad targeting

Both LinkedIn and Facebook have excellent tools for targeting your audience with ads. However, the targeting methods are different, and each has its advantages.

Facebook ads

If you decide to run ads on Facebook, you can target age, gender, and interest demographics. This targeting benefits business-to-consumer (B2C) interactions, but it may be more challenging to contact businesses to work with using these targeting options.

LinkedIn ads

LinkedIn’s nature as a place for professionals to connect means its ad targeting focuses on job titles, fields of work, and companies. So, while Facebook ads can cast a wide net, LinkedIn targeting elements make it easier to reach companies, which is what a B2B advertising campaign aims to do.

Costs

In terms of how much of your marketing budget you’ll need to put aside, Facebook costs less, while LinkedIn costs quite a bit more. However, the higher costs on LinkedIn are offset by a potentially outstanding payoff because you can target businesses more, giving you a better chance of landing a significant business client.

Community engagement

A key benefit of social media is the ability to engage in real-time with people worldwide. On both platforms, this can occur through private messages or as part of groups with the same interests and careers or who live in the same area.

The benefit of these groups is that they are where you’ll find your audience. As you’re running ads for a B2B business, the people you need to target are much more likely to be in the LinkedIn groups as they focus primarily on cultivating professional members in groups. By focusing on groups within LinkedIn, you can build long-term relationships and gain high-value leads through interaction with individuals within these groups.

LinkedIn or Facebook

While both platforms benefit businesses that want to run ad campaigns, LinkedIn is the clear winner for running B2B adverts and networking. Its large user base and focus on cultivating career-focused professionals are a recipe for success when it comes to gaining the attention of the management of companies that need your product or service.

While it’s helpful to have a presence on as many platforms as possible to ensure your brand recognition will increase in the long term, LinkedIn is an excellent place to focus your efforts. While you pay more for the ads, your return on investment can be massive.

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