It can be a puzzler to pick a platform for promoting your business. The choice gets trickier when it involves platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook which seem to mimic their features from a distance. While it’s normal to ask “What platform should I begin with?”, it’s not necessary for you to gamble your way out. The answer lies in identifying your target audience and your marketing goals, as these two will ultimately lead you to the right path.
Here’s a lowdown on what these platforms offer which might help in aligning your answers:
A website that boasts 90 million senior-level influencers users out of its total base of 675 million, LinkedIn has created a reputation for itself as a professional recruitment network. From business owners and employers to aspiring applicants, people around the world have adapted to the idea of sharing LinkedIn profiles as a way to move forward in the hiring process.
A household name that trumps LinkedIn in terms of user base with a whopping 2.5 billion active users. Facebook started off as a tool that allowed communicating and sharing lifestyle and personal updates between communities, groups, and individuals but extended its branches to advertising, creative hubs, etc. to reel in a variety of business owners (irrespective of their scale of business).
What’s Common?
- Both platforms allow creating and sharing of ads and posts.
- Both platforms offer a variety of ad templates.
- Both platforms cater to younger audiences.
So, which way should you go?
If your aim is brand awareness, you want to edge towards Facebook. The platform provides features like a wider reach, tailored target audience, and a higher rate of engagement – simply because of its larger user base. In addition to just demographics, Facebook allows to target audiences based on psychographics (behavioral patterns, likes, dislikes).
If you prefer B2B advertising and are looking to reach more businesses with your ads, LinkedIn might be the right corporate advertising space for you. The platform allows ads to be tailored using job titles, industry size, or place of work. It’s worthy to note that while both platforms allow targeting based on job titles and companies, LinkedIn keeps these sections more updated.
If you want to create a more personalized experience for a niche audience, LinkedIn’s Sponsored InMail feature helps to create and send humanized messages directly to your target audience member’s inbox.
In terms of content creation, if your business revolves around imagery and is highly visual, Facebook would be a better option since ads with images do a lot better on that platform so you can incorporate those in the content you put out as opposed to LinkedIn. On the other hand, if your business revolves around professional updates, industry insights, and B2B processes, LinkedIn is your way to go. This is because users are constantly looking for industry updates and professional content does better with them.
Summing up
Regardless of your business expertise, it helps to identify your goals and who you are speaking to through your promotion strategies. Once you do, you would be able to use the tailored services offered by anyone (or even both) of these platforms better to fall in line with your marketing demands. For effective insights on leveraging social media for your business, connect with our social team at Seahawk.
