For B2B marketers, LinkedIn is the top digital channel for executing both organic and paid campaigns. In recent years, LinkedIn has released an increasing number of features that support B2B marketing efforts. Such features include letting marketers share content on a company page to create engagement and offering paid ads that help generate leads. Few would argue that LinkedIn is as feature-rich as other social media marketing platforms like Facebook and Twitter. But LinkedIn is closing the gap, and B2B marketers are starting to take note.
“LinkedIn is included in about 80% of campaigns we run for B2B companies,” said Lisa Shepherd, president of Mezzanine Growth, a Toronto-based B2B agency. “B2B companies tend to have a long selling cycle, involving several decision-makers and influencers. You can be certain that at least one of them is going to check out your company on LinkedIn.”
Some 73.0% of B2B brand marketers worldwide said LinkedIn was the social media platform that generated the most return on investment (ROI), according to an Incite Group survey published in February 2020. Respondents ranked the platform well ahead of Facebook (42.8%), Instagram (25.7%), and Twitter (20.3%).
“The ultimate way to succeed on LinkedIn is to do both organic and paid promotion,” said Steve Watt, vice president of marketing at Grapevine6, a Toronto-based ad tech firm focused on social media content. “You want to empower all of your people to engage as individuals and make themselves magnets. At the same time, you would be wise to do some good account-targeted paid work on LinkedIn, where you’re driving content toward the right people in the right organizations, in the right industries.”