Comparing LinkedIn and Facebook for B2B Lead Generation: Which Works Best?

Comparing LinkedIn and Facebook for B2B Lead Generation: Which Works Best?

If you’re looking to generate B2B leads on social media, the most common platforms you focus on are Facebook and LinkedIn. Both platforms are ideal for creating a B2B leads database and targeted lists. It’s important to keep in mind that 77% of B2B consumers are doing extensive research before purchasing anything. That’s why promoting your services on social media can be a great idea. But which platform should you use for generating B2B leads? Let’s find out!

Target audience

LinkedIn is usually the better platform for B2B generation because it targets working professionals and businesses. It gives you direct access to influencers and decision-makers within your niche. The platform offers lead gen forms, where a user can easily share their professional details. Additionally, you can use sponsored content like InMail, which will help you target the audience based on experience, interests, and even the job profile.

Not every business professional has a Facebook profile. That’s why Facebook is more suitable for advertising, as it does provide a very good targeting system for ads. You can choose organizations, job roles, industry, and so on. 

Average costs

When it comes to advertising costs, LinkedIn tends to be more expensive, with an average of $2 CPC. Facebook’s B2B advertising costs tend to be at an average of $0.79 CPC. That’s why a lot of companies prefer to use Facebook for B2B lead generation, mainly because it’s more affordable. It’s a good idea to use both platforms, experiment and see which one delivers the better value.

Algorithm

Both platforms have a very complex algorithm that provides excellent targeting. In the case of Facebook, the B2B sales algorithm can be great if you want to retarget your audience, if you already feed Facebook your current data. However, LinkedIn helps extract demographic data, and then it can help with its segmentation. Because of that, LinkedIn tends to be a better solution for professional connections, and it’s more targeted.

B2B prospecting

We should keep in mind that while Facebook has company pages just like LinkedIn does, the former doesn’t allow the company to link its employees. LinkedIn surpasses Facebook there and makes the process of creating targeted lists a lot easier. You can also check every employee’s job title, history, tenure, and so on. LinkedIn’s paid version also has the Helper tool, which can give you insights into what companies are ideal to target.

Messaging

When it comes to any tools used to generate leads, it’s very important to have messaging or communication solutions. Facebook’s Messenger is free to use, and you can even integrate an AI chatbot solution into it. LinkedIn has its InMail, but it’s limited to 30 InMails per month. Despite the limitation, LinkedIn’s messaging system is more complex, suitable for B2B clients, and it can help establish a connection with decision-makers. Facebook might have a free messaging tool, but it’s very simple and not that great for B2B interactions.

Additional reasons why LinkedIn is better for B2B lead generation

• LinkedIn’s B2B networking is unmatched, it’s many times better when compared to Facebook.

• Contact information is readily available on LinkedIn, whereas it’s not very easy to find via Facebook. That’s especially true for non-decision-makers.

• There are way less B2B professionals on Facebook when compared to LinkedIn. That means there’s a much higher likelihood of finding B2B leads on LinkedIn since the network itself is built with business professionals in mind. 

All in all, both Facebook and LinkedIn can be a great option if you want to generate B2B leads. However, LinkedIn stands out because it offers a more professional business environment, immediate access to the employee list, their contact info, and qualifications, but also a very comprehensive ad system, along with powerful messaging tools. If you want to bring in more B2B leads for your business, trying out LinkedIn first is a great idea!