A social media plan is a written document that outlines your media platform’s objectives, the strategies you will employ to accomplish them, and the metrics you will monitor to evaluate your success. To build a successful social media strategy, you must first identify your objectives and goals that should be S.M.A.R.T., i.e., Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Highlights:
- You risk posting on social media merely for sharing if you do not have a strategy. It will not be easy to succeed on social media if you do not know your objectives, your target audience, and what they seek.
- Finding the most important conversations about your company and industry is another aspect of expanding your audience. Filtering through your social media networks is almost unattainable without listening or analyzing for particular keywords, phrases, or hashtags.
- There is significant potential for leaders and practitioners because only 55% of marketers use social analytics to understand their target audience more effectively.
Social media platforms’ significance has come to light recently, particularly when discussing B2B marketing. The topic of which social media platforms will benefit B2B marketing the most persists despite all marketers frequently employing social media material to establish their presence in the worldwide market. Since the beginning, Facebook and LinkedIn have been the top two platforms. You must choose the right platform if you want your efforts to result in a successful journey. People are unsure whether they should advertise more on LinkedIn or Facebook (E.E.S., 2021; Cortez and Dastidar, 2022).
Facebook is typically where you share your entertaining movies, thrilling tales, discount fliers for your company’s marketing efforts, and family or getaway photos everywhere around your Facebook homepage. Additionally, LinkedIn is a reputable resource for finding a job and advancing your career. However, both platforms can present you with excellent marketing opportunities. Using these social media tools, you may rapidly and effectively contact your target audience (E.E.S., 2021; Cartwright et al., 2021; Eyal Katz, 2020).
LinkedIn is a professional platform that was first developed as a tool for corporate hiring. Today, it offers several features comparable to those on conventional social media platforms, such as status updates, blogging tools, and private messaging. Additionally, it is the best platform for distributing content and ensuring audience participation.
Facebook, in contrast, was explicitly created as a platform for communication and sharing. Although the ‘sharing’ component is its main selling point, it also has many other functions that help companies reach their target consumers. In fact, according to a Facebook survey, 74% of American shoppers use the site to find new brands and goods (E.E.S., 2021; Ryan Gould, 2019).
LinkedIn and Facebook offer the Groups feature, which enables you to interact with others who share your interests, and they both have effective ad platforms. Are you creating a Facebook group to facilitate quick communication with a larger audience of clients? Right decision. Wait, do you intend to make a group on LinkedIn for a convenient chat? Right decision Which, however, is more effective for B2B marketing? The answer is dependent upon the industry you are in.
Meeting others who share your interests or work in your industry might be advantageous. Facebook is best utilized for providing feedback, reviewing, and sharing personal opinions. Because of this, Facebook Groups are the way to go if you deal in lifestyle, food, politics, travel, or a certain area of sales (E.E.S., 2021; Agustin et al., 2021; Cartwright et al., 2021). If LinkedIn groups contain members who share a similar perspective on work, they function perfectly. Using LinkedIn groups to sell expensive career or professional services would be best.
Both platforms have very much reached parity in terms of variety. While Facebook has long bragged about having a vast selection of advertisement types, LinkedIn has recently added many ad forms, including video, lead, carousel, dynamic, and sponsored inMail ads. You may start organizing your emerging themes on a platform for content marketing like Casted and then construct your ad on each LinkedIn or Facebook in a few easy steps because each has an accessible ad manager (Ryan Gould, 2019; Cartwright et al., 2021).
You are right if you think Facebook can reach a wider audience. This does not indicate that LinkedIn’s marketing techniques are ineffective. Both platforms place a high value on user feedback and serve advertisements and content relevant to their users’ information. On Facebook and LinkedIn, you may target people based on their work description, family income, company, area, and age. Facebook offers the benefit of allowing for more exact consumer targeting based on their behavior, life phases, and other unique data.
Both platforms enable companies to engage with customers who are different from their current clientele by using source audiences. While Facebook labels it as a ‘Lookalike Audience,’ LinkedIn refers to it as ‘Audience Expansion’ (Ryan Gould, 2019; E.E.S., 2021; Eyal Katz, 2020).
Therefore, it is vital to include costing. You often receive greater value for your cash on Facebook. According to Ryan’s (2019) study, LinkedIn advertisements have a startling average cost-per-click of $5.26, which is significantly higher than Facebook ads’ $0.97 average. However, a higher price does not always translate into a higher return on marketing expenditure (Ryan Gould, 2019).
So, now the question is, who is winning your choice? While Facebook and LinkedIn may have some similarities, it is apparent that they serve distinct audiences and have vastly different goals or marketing objectives. It is also crucial to remember that you do not have to make a decision. Maybe you utilize Facebook to build brand awareness and interact with customers, while LinkedIn is used for a targeted lead-generating effort.
Therefore, to better understand the above, here are the eight reasons for choosing LinkedIn over Facebook for Business:
While Facebook provides beneficial networking and advertising options that are both paid for and available for free, more and more users are leaving the well-known social media site. Businesses and customers are switching away from Facebook in favor of alternative, more reliable platforms due to the numerous data breaches and confidentiality issues. LinkedIn is one of these platforms, and while it may not offer the technological breakthroughs that Facebook does, it is not far behind. LinkedIn is superior to Facebook in many ways, particularly in business. Here is why:
More effective B2B targeting:
Facebook makes it simple to conduct general searches for businesses that might interest you, but it falls short regarding tailored searches. There is no effortless way to look up staff or customers. On the other hand, LinkedIn provides a distinctive interface that enables you to advance your searches. Because LinkedIn is a social media site that is mainly focused on business, it has many capabilities that will allow you to conduct in-depth searches on both firms and employees from the past in addition to the present (E.E.S., 2021; Cortez and Dastidar, 2022; Kumar and Sharma, 2022).
For instance, LinkedIn gives you the option to focus on the employees of a current or former employer. People frequently maintain connections to former employers even after leaving them since they often construct their LinkedIn profiles similarly to a resume. As a result, you may base your searches on employees’ various connections within and outside the firm. Your firm will benefit from company connections because of lead generation, marketing strategies, customer references, or even direct sales. Using LinkedIn’s first, second, and third connection features, you may create a multi-layered focus for your marketing campaigns.
After this, you can view the names of all your connections’ employers, the sectors they work in, and the size of each business in terms of employees and global locations. This makes it simple and effective for you to target your advertising strategies. It also means that you are free to reject applicants or businesses you are confident will not be a suitable fit for your goods, services, or customers (Ryan Gould, 2019; Kumar and Sharma, 2022; Cortez and Dastidar, 2022). This will be discussed in detail in the following part of this article.
Successful B2C networking:
LinkedIn provides an effective tool to network with a variety of customers in addition to networking with other companies without coming across as obnoxious or intrusive. The most accessible approach to achieve this is to have an active profile and share interesting and helpful stuff with others. People will trust your company more as you provide more value, strengthening your brand. Post updates on time and keep it engaging to keep visitors coming back. You can start posting and advertising new goods and services your fans will like as your following increases without sounding overly sales-oriented (Krings et al., 2021).
Targeting on multiple levels:
You can target people based on their job titles, level of seniority within a firm, and their talents, in addition to targeting based on company ties. Suppose you are searching for a business consulting manager or another job title, regardless of the organization that someone works for. In that case, you can quickly type in a search term and get many results. This is excellent for companies looking for a point of contact, candidates for a position, or people to expand their network. You can also look for someone by their seniority if you are confident that you need to speak with someone in a position of responsibility within a corporation (Arrach and Varchi Tegelöf, 2022).
Again, the functionality of these searches will depend on your requirements but eliminating people who are not decision-makers will save you a massive amount of time in the long term. Finally, a feature exclusive to LinkedIn is the opportunity to look for individuals with a certain skill set based on your goals. Since LinkedIn mainly relies on third-party endorsements, you can examine what they have been rated best at and quickly determine why they would be significant for your business by looking at what they have been rated best at (Cortez and Dastidar, 2022).
It is easy to access contact details:
Facebook has a remarketing option, but it might be challenging, particularly if you are looking for company-specific details. LinkedIn provides contact information that is more easily accessible and has a direct chat feature without the tight filtration mechanisms found on Facebook. You can run paid advertising to a list of targeted audiences via their email addresses or merely a handful of firm contacts due to LinkedIn’s algorithms in a variety of different methods. As a result, your lead list and possible future sales will grow as you may reach a broader audience with less work (Krings et al., 2021).
Sponsored Mail:
It is unlikely that anyone will click on sponsored advertising on Facebook, and even if they do, most users are likely to become irritated and might ban your business. Sponsored in-mail on LinkedIn, however, has been well-known and frequently favored. This is due to the user culture on LinkedIn and most sponsored in-mail offers. Immediately create content that will be pertinent to and beneficial to the audience you will be targeting while developing your marketing campaign. Using the customized lists you have generated, distribute them to your audiences and include a clear and compelling C.T.A. LinkedIn mail has the particular advantage of just sending messages to audience members who are actively engaged, which boosts open rates and total response rates (Kumar and Sharma, 2022; Dwivedi et al., 2021).
A Better Business Mindset:
It is important to remember that Facebook is primarily a social networking tool that users use for entertainment. People watch mindless videos, chat with friends, and learn what is happening around the globe. They want to escape their daily struggles and worries, even for a few periods. People have a reason for using LinkedIn. They seek helpful information, job leads, updates on goods or services, or novel approaches to advance their careers. The individuals actively using LinkedIn will be better qualified to meet your company’s needs.
As long as the advertisements are intriguing, relevant, and engaging, people are more likely to appreciate them. Due to the strict algorithms, Facebook ads frequently irritate users, and some even find them scary. On LinkedIn, however, ads provide value and are a terrific opportunity for your company to thrive in content marketing. One standard method is ads that request email addresses in exchange for white papers. By developing several lead-generating forms that are straightforward, quick, and easy to complete, you can demonstrate your expertise and provide individuals with the information or instruction they need (Dwivedi et al., 2021; Krings et al., 2021).
On LinkedIn, thought leadership occurs more naturally:
One method for brands to increase their awareness and credibility is through thought leadership. According to Survey Monkey’s 2020 Thought Leadership Report, 66% of marketers rank it as one of their top priorities for their marketing team.
A thought leader’s duties include inspiring action, fostering dialogue, and educating others. The same report demonstrates that thought leadership programs aid lead generation and brand recognition efforts by improving website traffic, media mentions, subscribers, and more. LinkedIn has an advantage regarding thought leadership publications—already built for commercial talks, the platform. As a result, thought leadership content can help brands succeed more than Facebook (Ryan Gould, 2019; Cortez and Dastidar, 2022).
Enhanced Client Satisfaction:
Through LinkedIn’s platform, you can quickly communicate with your customers, giving you the means to raise general client happiness. You can design surveys, request testimonies, or even send direct notes to customers thanking them for their support. This will help you learn through time what works and what does not while demonstrating to your clients that you value their patronage. Encourage a mix of public and private conversations since the feelings of appreciation that come from being heard are unrivaled. Just like Facebook, LinkedIn provides a mechanism to manage your customer service and address any concerns that may develop, just like Facebook, but on a more expert level (Cortez and Dastidar, 2022; Arrach and Varchi Tegelöf, 2022).
A LinkedIn page for your company is a great asset; using it as a platform for paid advertising and social engagement is even better. You can target both customers and businesses thanks to increased targeting choices. To ensure your business succeeds, create a LinkedIn profile, manage it well, and start employing paid marketing.
Works Cited:
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Arrach, S., & Varchi Tegelöf, O. (2022). The benefits and challenges in the B2B sales process derived from digitalization: And the augmentation of the hybrid work model.
Cartwright, S., Liu, H., & Raddats, C. (2021). Strategic use of social media within business-to-business (B2B) marketing: A systematic literature review. Industrial Marketing Management, 97, 35-58.
Cortez, R. M., & Dastidar, A. G. (2022). A longitudinal study of B2B customer engagement in LinkedIn: The role of brand personality. Journal of Business Research, 145, 92-105.
Dwivedi, Y. K., Ismagilova, E., Rana, N. P., & Raman, R. (2021). Social media adoption, usage and impact in business-to-business (B2B) context: A state-of-the-art literature review. Information Systems Frontiers, 1-23.
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Ryan Gould, (2019). LinkedIn vs. Facebook: Which Is Best for Your Business? Hubspot. Retrieved from: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/linkedin-vs-facebook Accessed on: 09-09-2022.
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