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Why LinkedIn Still Ranks #1 for B2B Marketers

Why LinkedIn Still Ranks #1 for B2B Marketers

February 14, 2023
4 min read

LinkedIn has always held a special place in the hearts of B2B marketers, and the forecast for 2023 shows we can expect it to stay popular this year. Following trends from previous years, LinkedIn remains the top social media channel for engagement among B2B marketers.

Our most recent Sagefrog B2B Marketing Mix Report examining marketing trends for the year ahead found that of the B2B marketing professionals surveyed, 41% will rely on LinkedIn ads as their companies’ most-used social media tactic. Facebook ads did take the lead this year at 55%, but organic and boosted social posts—including those on LinkedIn, as well as other platforms—were at 46% and 44%, respectively.

Take a look at the top marketing options LinkedIn offers B2B marketers, which have pushed the social media channel over the edge in terms of engagement, open rates, and lead generation.

2023 Marketing Mix Social Engagement

LinkedIn Ads

In LinkedIn’s own words, it helps people “do business where business gets done,” and that’s undoubtedly true for marketers who have used the platform for networking and lead generation. LinkedIn provides various tools that allow marketers to quickly develop and launch effective ads without spending tons of money.

B2B marketers are looking to increase sales leads and convert those leads into customers, and the platform’s highly focused targeting capabilities accelerate that process.

As marketers dial in their personas, they can optimize their ads based on traits like job titles, company names, industries, professional interests, personal interests, and more. LinkedIn’s term for ads is Sponsored Content, and it comes in a variety of sizes and formats, including:

  • Single Image Ads
  • Video Ads
  • Carousel Ads
  • Text Ads
  • Follower Ads
  • Spotlight Ads
  • Job Ads
  • Content Ads

This flexibility offers content and creative strategists an inspiring range of possibilities to work with for designing exciting ads that connect with your ideal customers.

LinkedIn Sponsored Messaging Ads (Formerly InMail)

Typically, you have to approve a connection to another user on LinkedIn before you can send each other direct messages. Versions of this restriction exist on other social media platforms as well, but LinkedIn Sponsored Messaging allows you to sidestep that barrier to connect directly with business professionals.

Sponsored Message Ads on LinkedIn let B2B marketers craft brief, clear messages to the exact people they need to address while avoiding the look, feel, and approach of standard ads that would appear normally in the user’s feed. They’re a traditional ABM approach that still thrive on the digital marketing scene, with more than 1 in 2 prospects opening up a Message Ad, according to LinkedIn.

The best Message Ads are conversational and personalized to make people more receptive to the information you’re sharing. They give recipients a sense that there’s a real person on the other end, which can be infinitely more effective in building trust and engagement than traditional digital ads.

Throughout the pandemic, this tactic has also been vital in promoting the tsunami of webinars and video conferences that have taken over the professional world. It has allowed marketers to get the message out directly to their highest-priority contacts with highly personalized invitations, dramatically boosting attendance.

LinkedIn Pages

According to LinkedIn, a LinkedIn Page is “your place in the world’s professional community.” By creating a page for your business and connecting with your leads, clients, and colleagues, you can engage with your audience and create strong brand awareness.

Slightly different from a personal LinkedIn page, your company page offers unique features, such as a call-to-action (CTA) button that can be customized to draw a crowd to your website or another link for your business. You can also post long-form content from your account that will live on the page’s feed, which can be useful for sharing thought leadership and content marketing assets with your audience.

LinkedIn Learning

As B2B marketers, we know our education is never complete. There are always new things to learn and new best practices to implement in our professional repertoire. While it isn’t quite a marketing tool on its own, LinkedIn’s educational portal—LinkedIn Learning—is a valuable asset for improving your marketing campaigns.

LinkedIn Learning offers online courses on topics in business, professional development, specific industry skills, and more. The courses are all led by experts in each subject area. So when you consider the options that LinkedIn offers marketers, don’t forget about the benefits of expanding your knowledge base.

LinkedIn Talent Solutions

When you’re looking to expand your team, it’s always great to have a reliable place to start. That’s where LinkedIn Talent Solutions comes in. B2B’s favorite social media platform—the one that can post organic content and ads, offer customizable pages, and even has training opportunities in your field—also has tools for finding your next star employee.

You can post a job opening on LinkedIn and find candidates that match what you need, both within your existing professional network and outside of your current search radius. Just like with LinkedIn Ads, you set the budget you want and move forward from there.

Start Generating More Leads With LinkedIn

Whether you’re beginning a new campaign, re-strategizing an existing campaign, looking into LinkedIn Stories, or simply searching for more ways to generate more leads on LinkedIn, it’s clear that LinkedIn is your best social bet.

LinkedIn allows for multiple organic ways to generate interest from your target audience. Sharing updates, posting articles or stories, liking and commenting on other people’s posts, are all great ways to just organically get your name out there. Heck, I found just connecting with people in an authentic way is a great way to get in front of potential clients.

However, with so much spam on LinkedIn, it’s important not to SELL on the platform or in your messages. When sending a connection request, do NOT bring up your company or use some form response. Use something personal or a common connection who you actually both know.

Another way I love to use LinkedIn for leads it to use it as a platform for easy employee activation. Get your employees to connect with others, post content, like other people’s posts and comment.

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Curious where all other marketing channels fall on the modern B2B marketers’ priority list? Download the B2B Marketing Mix Report for a full breakdown of the trends and tactics that marketing professionals are looking for when designing their campaigns.

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Mark Schmukler

Mark Schmukler, CEO and Co-founder of Sagefrog Marketing Group, brings more than 30 years of global marketing and consulting experience to the agency, leveraging his B2B background to lead brand strategy and business development. Headquartered in Doylestown, PA with offices in Philadelphia, Princeton, Boston and Washington, DC, Sagefrog is a top-ranked B2B marketing agency with specialties in healthcare, technology, industrial, and business services. Founded in 2002, Sagefrog’s mission is to accelerate client success through branding and strategy, websites and digital, content and inbound, and traditional marketing services. Visit Sagefrog.com or call 215.230.9024.

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