The Linkedin vs Facebook debate is as old as the two social media platforms themselves. But which one will come out on top in 2024?
Linkedin has always been seen as a professional social media platform. It’s often used by job seekers to connect with potential employers. Or by businesses to recruit. Or promote their products and services.
Facebook on the other hand is seen as more of a personal platform. It’s where people connect with friends and family. They share news and experiences and generally just chat. But those broader descriptions no longer do justice. Both these platforms have evolved. They are now spreading their reach to different specialisations.
For businesses, understanding the nuances of these platforms is important. With the right approach, businesses can use both platforms to their advantage. Here’s everything you need to know about these two powerhouses.
They cater to entirely different audiences
Which platform does your target audience use the most? When it comes to these two, they have very different audience profiles.
LinkedIn’s audience is mostly composed of affluent professionals. These are people looking to network with other professionals. They’re also more likely to be interested in B2B services and products.
So, the content on LinkedIn should be professional too. It must be relevant to your target audience. That said, it now offers many of the social sharing features that Facebook does. So, status updates, private messages and blogging are very much a part of the Linkedin landscape now. But, it’s not the average teenager that’s posting it. The demographic is very different. More professionals on Linkedin.
Facebook, on the other hand, has a much broader audience. It includes a large percentage of young people. There are people in developing countries. It’s also where people go to find out about current events. They want to share opinions. It’s more of a casual vibe to be precise.
Facebook is the place to be after a tiring day at work. It’s where 59% of the world’s social media population hangs out. It’s no wonder then that 3 million marketers are hovering around it like hawks.
Linkedin vs Facebook – Higher ROI on Facebook Ads
Facebook ads are where the big bucks are. Businesses can target their ads more effectively on Facebook than any other social media platform. Why you might wonder? Because of their razor-sharp accuracy in demographic targeting.
Facebook lets advertisers target their ads to people based on a variety of parameters. For example, interests, age, gender, location, relationship status, education, work history, and so much more. This level of targeting is hard to come by on other platforms. Not even Linkedin. That’s because of the kind of information people share on Facebook.
People post about meeting a partner. Someone’s dining with a friend. A user just got mugged. Someone’s getting hooked. People are going on a vacation. There are people annoyed at not being able to board the flight. Every tiny granular bit of data Facebook has is gold for advertisers.
Did you know that Facebook offers the highest ROI on your ad spend amongst the top 8 PPC platforms? Linkedin ranks only 4th. That’s not to say that LinkedIn isn’t a valuable platform. It has a different kind of value proposition. But when it comes to sheer numbers and ROI, Facebook is the clear winner.
Linkedin vs Facebook – Linkedin ads are more expensive
Businesses comparing Linkedin vs Facebook will definitely consider advertising costs. Both these ad platforms use an auction system to run ads. Businesses compete against each other to get their ad in front of the right people.
LinkedIn’s ad prices are significantly higher than Facebook’s. The reason for this is pretty simple. LinkedIn has a smaller audience of around 750 million. But they are generally influential decision-makers. Statista tells us that 61 million Linkedin users are decision-makers. Another 40-million are in key decision-making positions.
Those are eyeballs that businesses want to reach. So, they’re willing to pay a premium for a LinkedIn ad. The average CPM on LinkedIn is £8.24. It’s only £1.89 on Facebook. The average CPC on Facebook in 2021 was £0.73. The average CPC on Linkedin is £3.96. That’s a huge difference.
Linkedin is better suited for B2B marketing goals
Linkedin has always been a popular platform for B2B marketing goals. In fact, 97% of B2B marketers use Linkedin to distribute content. The Linkedin ecosystem with its massive pool of professionals is perfect for these goals.
Linkedin also accounts for 82% of leads from paid ads. In comparison, Facebook accounts for just 7%. What’s more, is that lead generation on Linkedin is cheaper than conventional channels. Hubspot reveals that Linkedin lead gen forms allowed 90% of marketers to lower lead acquisition costs.
Facebook on the other hand is better suited for B2C goals. It has a broad audience. Add to that the ability to target ads. You get an ideal platform for businesses looking for mass reach. For instance, eCommerce businesses.
Facebook is a visual platform
Marketing media is constantly evolving. So are the ways in which businesses must market themselves. Gone are the days when text-based ads ruled supreme. The new kid on the block is visual media.
Facebook has always been a visual platform. From the very beginning, it has been built around images and videos. That’s because humans are hardwired to process visuals faster than text. In fact, 90% of the information transmitted to our brains is visual.
That’s why businesses with a strong reliance on visuals love Facebook marketing. It helps you stand out from the noise. Instantly. It also helps increase engagement and conversion rates. Travel companies, eCommerce, and food businesses have found massive success with Facebook ads. The interconnectivity with Instagram further bolsters Facebook’s visual prowess.
Linkedin is more of a content-based platform as compared to Facebook.
Linkedin vs Facebook – Facebook is better for retargeting
Facebook is the uncrowned king of retargeting. Retargeting is the process of showing targeted ads to people who have already shown interest in your business or service. Facebook’s massive audience pool gives you widespread reach. Don’t forget its robust targeting tools. This combo makes it the ideal platform for retargeting.
Linkedin offers retargeting options too. But they pale in comparison to what Facebook offers. For one, Linkedin only allows you to target people who have interacted with your content. Let’s say someone clicked on a lead gen form. You can now show a targeted ad to that person. That’s a tiny subset of your audience. Especially, when compared to Facebook’s ability to target all website visitors.
Also, Facebook’s retargeting options are much more sophisticated. You can target people based on several parameters. This makes it significantly easier to retarget users at a lower cost.
LinkedIn holds the edge for organic traffic
While both of these are powerful advertising platforms, don’t forget organic traffic. The best traffic is free traffic after all. That’s regardless of which platform you use for marketing. How does Linkedin vs Facebook perform in this regard? A few years ago, Facebook decided to cut the wings on organic reach. It just decided that allowing brands to promote content for free was not a smart business idea.
At one point, the organic reach for Facebook posts had dropped to a mere 2% within the platform. The verdict is clear. If you want a share of that juicy user base, pay them. LinkedIn has not followed in those footsteps.
LinkedIn continues to offer brands the opportunity to reach a large number of people for free. Maybe it understands that organic traffic is valuable. Or that brands are more likely to invest in paid advertising down the line. A little free promotion upfront only bolsters their confidence.
So, you’re likely to see a blog post on LinkedIn indexed more easily on Google. At the same, the visibility will also be higher than 2% within Linkedin. But we are not sure that it’s going to be this way forever. In fact, visibility within Linkedin is already dropping.
However, you can optimise both Facebook Pages and Linkedin Company Pages for better rankings on search. They are excellent tools for brand building and content marketing too. But if you are focusing on organic traffic, Linkedin is the better of the two.
Which one of these two powerhouses should you be using?
At Rockstar Marketing, we use both these platforms to reach our clients’ marketing goals. We find that each platform is better suited for different goals. Sometimes, with overlapping benefits. Our PPC marketing team analyses client goals before deciding.
Businesses looking to reach a large number of business professionals will like Linkedin. Brands targeting end users will prefer Facebook. If you want to build brand relevancy, then tap into both.
That said, these are generalised statements. The best way to find whether Linkedin vs Facebook is better for you is to test them out. Try running a campaign on each and see which one gives you the best results. If you’re struggling to make a decision, then reach out to us and we’ll be happy to help.
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