As I mentioned last week, LinkedIn is typically considered the most appropriate social media tool for B2B marketing. But how does it actually compare to the world´s largest social platform, Facebook? In a recent experiment I came across (carried out by Econsultancy), both social networks were compared in terms of reach and costs. Here are some of the results.
Looking at the targeted B2B audience that will potentially see an ad is an option available on both platforms, thanks to their ad tools. They can give you an estimate of how many users an ad can reach, thus allowing brands to compare. For their research, Econsultancy selected the following target criteria on LinkedIn: living in Singapore and working in Software, Internet or IT services. The ad tool returned an estimate for 110,674 users matching that profile. When the same thing was done on Facebook, ad tools only displayed 13,200 people. By adding interests to the targeting, such as computer programming, and filtering the professionals by selecting College Graduate as an educational background, researchers got 112,000 Facebook users. This means that the potential target audience is almost the same.
Econsultancy then compared the costs of the campaigns on both platforms. Researchers focused on cost per 1,000 impressions, click-through rates and conversion rates. Taking these into account and making calculations, a B2B marketing campaign on LinkedIn got a total cost of $55.33 and cost per acquisition of $3.46. On Facebook, the total cost came in at $37.33 and the cost of acquisition at $1.87, showing that Facebook can actually give marketers better value for money.
However, Econsultancy warns that these results are not universal and they may vary across countries, industries and campaigns. But the experiment clearly shows that Facebook should not be ignored as a platform for B2B marketing.
The best thing you can do for your business is to use both. But how do you achieve the results you´re looking for? If you´re in need of help when it comes to your social media, contact M2 Bespoke. We can offer a variety of assistance, especially with your LinkedIn profile, depending on your requirements. Contact our friendly team today and we will talk you through our services.