LinkedIn is Named B2B Marketers’ Most Important Social Platform

Marketing Charts revealed that although Facebook is easily the most important social platform for B2C marketers, it’s not exactly true for B2B marketers. Instead, according to Social Media Examiner’s 2014 “Social Media Marketing Industry Report,” LinkedIn edges Facebook as the most important social platform for B2B marketers by a slightly larger proportion.

33% of B2B respondents consider LinkedIn as the single most important social channel. And about two-thirds of respondents are interested in learning more about LinkedIn.

B2B marketers lean towards LinkedIn as a result of their target audiences’ preferences. B2B buyers and decision makers make up the largest proportion of users on LinkedIn, more than any other social network on desktop, mobile, and mobile apps.

However, the report also reveals that LinkedIn isn’t  the most accessed social platform when it comes to  B2B buyers’ social preferences. Notably, for businesses to reach B2B users, Twitter is a popular option with 16% of B2B respondents naming Twitter the single most important platform. This is compared to 10% of B2C marketers saying the same.

Other facts to note from the report were:

• Blogging is more critical to B2B (11%) than B2C (6%) marketers
• In terms of B2C social platform overall adoption, Facebook (97%) leads, followed by Twitter (81%), YouTube (60%), and LinkedIn (59%). Only one-third of B2C marketers are using Instagram, despite rapid growth and popularity with the teen demographic.
• For B2B marketing, Facebook (89%) and LinkedIn (88%) are equal in popularity, followed by Twitter (86%). Almost two-thirds of B2B marketers are blogging and 6 in 10 use Google+
• 77% of B2B marketers plan to increase their use of LinkedIn, verses 54% of B2C marketers.
• B2B marketers are also more likely to increase blogging activity than B2C (74% compared to 63%)
• Two-Thirds overall plan to increase activity on YouTube.
• About 6 in 10 of both types of marketers plan to increase their Google+ activities, up 53% last year

The results were based on a survey of 2,887 marketers fielded in January 2014.