The Case for Facebook for B2B Advertisers
B2B advertisers often turn to LinkedIn over Facebook because it operates the world’s largest professional network with more than 467 million members in over 200 countries and territories, however, here are four reasons why you should think about throwing Facebook into the mix:
Scale
Facebook is substantially larger than LinkedIn– 1.79 billion monthly active users vs. 106 million monthly active users. Facebook has the greatest share of business decision makers, and it’s the social platform where they spend the most time on. Both platforms allow targeting based on user’s job title, industry, education, age, and location; so why not capitalize on the platform with larger scale and reach?
No Barrier to Entry
Facebook gives advertisers large and small access to its entire suite of products and capabilities. With LinkedIn, higher-end products such as dynamic ads and account-based marketing carry a $25,000 minimum over each three-month period. That buys the help of a dedicated rep, but it’s too expensive for the majority of smaller businesses – especially advertisers new to the platform that haven’t had the chance to warm up to a long-term commitment.
Leverage First-party Data
Facebook’s Custom Audiences allows advertisers to upload CRM data in order to match customer information to Facebook users. LinkedIn doesn’t offer this yet. Secondly, advertisers have the ability to re-target site visitors on Facebook given proper pixel placement, but not on LinkedIn. On Facebook, advertisers can create custom audiences based on engagement (e.g., people who viewed a video or interacted with a brand’s page or posts) and target lookalike users for all of the mentioned above. These vast first-party options put Facebook above the rest of social platforms.
Pace of Innovation
More than 95% of Facebook’s revenue comes directly from advertising, whereas LinkedIn’s marketing solutions account for less than 20% of revenue. To sustain this growth, Facebook rolls out new targeting methods and ad formats faster than any other platform. Facebook emphasizes a seamless advertiser experience, most evident in Lead Generation ads, that has LinkedIn playing catch up. While LinkedIn auto-fills a user’s information when she clicks on an advertiser’s link (if she is logged in), Facebook captures her information natively on the platform itself. This has dramatically increased conversion rates across the board, especially as dollars shift towards mobile.
All of this makes Facebook a must-test platform for B2B advertisers. Particularly new and small advertisers will find they can progress at their own pace, taking advantage of the broadest range of targeting tools and ad products from the start. In the process, they can appeal to prospective customers in unprecedented ways. To learn more, read our Adweek article on this subject.
Interested in learning how Paid Social can help your business? Find out how Facebook Lead Ads helped B2B company Revel Systems see 619x more leads with a 74% decrease in Cost Per Lead.
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