Peter Wilkinson | Social Media Consultant | International speaker
The bar for B2B advertising has been raised, thanks to LinkedIn’s acceptance that lucrative avenues for cross-company marketing lie within its borders. As the business equivalent of Facebook, and the leading professional social network, LinkedIn is capable of offering enhanced ad targeting and thus a raised success rate per advertising pound.
LinkedIn’s user base has grown and grown – as of the end of 2011, there were more than 130 million users of the site. While this is not in the same league as the status achieved by Facebook, it has to be noted that LinkedIn has a much more focused approach. LinkedIn is for professionals and businesses – while Facebook is for everyone.
On these terms, LinkedIn has two massive advantages – making it one of the jewels in the B2B marketer’s crown.
First, pretty much every LinkedIn user is predisposed to engage with brand advertising – whether that’s on a personal or a corporate level. Any way that a brand can advertise itself as an advantageous connection for a LinkedIn user is going to stick. This is in direct contradiction to Facebook, where the advertising is done almost against the user’s will. Facebook users are out to share jokes and keep in touch, not to buy stuff. Whereas LinkedIn users are specifically there or find ways to enhance their careers or get more business.
Second, as LinkedIn is dedicated only to professional and business life, it automatically segments itself into intelligible groups – almost predefined marketing spaces, if you will. Generally speaking, this segmentation is done across two axes – one being the market sector in which a person or a brand operates; and the other being the type of role performed.
There is cross pollination between the two axes: for instance a managing director in the rubber industry may equally be interested in ads targeted at managing directors and at the rubber industry.
LinkedIn enables finely tuned advertising to expectant audiences. It does this by using the same sorts of functions as Facebook – the ability to tag adverts for specific interests, job titles or groups for example. It also supports the same sort of active advertising as Facebook – click here for more information, click to follow, and so on. The difference being that a LinkedIn ad is far more likely to get a person to click on it to join a group or follow a company in which he or she has genuine interest.
A quick scrutiny of Facebook’s ads brings up an interesting realisation. Most Facebook advertising is targeted towards leisure and relationships – the two key areas in which Facebook defines itself, and by which Facebook users understand their relationship with the site. This makes Facebook a poor tool for primary B2B advertising, though it may have its place as an element of a recruitment campaign for a “shop floor” style workforce.
LinkedIn, on the other hand, has a much more direct focus on businesses and brands. Plus, with no hostility to the idea of being advertised to (so long as those ads are well targeted), the LinkedIn user is effectively just waiting for the right stimulus.
On Line Social Media Training
…….. Social media training to your PC, Pad or Phone where and when you want it
Be empowered to work as a brand advocate for your company
You and your employees will create a professional online presence that reflects positively on the employee and your company
You and your employees will know how to use social media safely and securely
Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook training that is always up to date and ready
Consistency of training across the whole organisation
Number of videos per section:
LinkedIn Academy (39)
Profile 15
Networking 5
Interacting 8
Advanced 5
Useful Tools 5
Facebook Academy (20)
Privacy 15
Security 4
Useful Tools 1
Twitter Academy (15)
Basics 4
Best Practices 4
Privacy & Security 7
Total 74 video lessons
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Peter Wilkinson, Social media consultant,
