B2B business and the relevance of social media

Social media has become an essential tool for targeting prospects online. More than half the world’s population is on social media – that’s 4.26 billion (of 7.888 billion) in 2021. 99% of those aged 18 – 29 use it, and even 47% of those aged 65 and over.

And it’s the people you want to reach, not big business. The marketing executives, the sales reps, the business development leads, the R&D managers, even GMs and CEOs – anyone who could see an idea online, think it’s awesome and bring it to their team.

Create content that will catch and hold people’s attention, spark their interest and get them thinking, whether at home or work. Here’s a great example – someone posting about Zillow, a website for trading property, bringing in some humour with the intent of keeping Zillow top of mind.

Which Social Media platform(s) are relevant?

So which social platforms should you be making content for? You might think LinkedIn is the most logical answer to which platform is best for reaching a B2B audience, but this isn’t necessarily the case. You want to use the best social media platform for targeting the individual decision-makers in the businesses you market to. You should also consider which platform is most appropriate for your business – are you a company that resonates with the kind of content that’s on TikTok, for example? Your target audience may be on this platform, but should your business have a presence on it?

Here’s a rundown of the kinds of people on each site.

Facebook:

• As of January 2023, men aged 25 to 34 were Facebook’s largest audience at 17.6% of global users, closely followed by men aged 18 – 24.
• Facebook is the third most visited website, after Google and YouTube.
• In 2022, there were 2.96 billion users on Facebook.
• 67.5% of monthly Facebook users are active daily.
• MORE STATS

Instagram:

• There are 1.4 billion users on Instagram.
• 62% of users on Instagram are aged 18 to 34.
• Only 13% are 45+.
• The gender demographic on Instagram is about 50/50 male and female.
• MORE STATS

LinkedIn:

• LinkedIn has 875 million members.
• 52.7% of LinkedIn members are men, and 42.8% are women.
• Almost 60% of LinkedIn’s users are aged 25 to 34.
• MORE STATS

TikTok:

• TikTok has over one billion, monthly active users.
• 57% of TikTok’s users are female.
• Only 4.3% of internet users name TikTok as their favourite social media platform.
• MORE STATS

Twitter:

• Twitter has around 450 million active monthly users.
• Most Twitter users are aged 25 to 34.
• Worldwide, 56.4% of Twitter users are male.
• Twitter is the most popular social media site for news.
• MORE STATS

Conversion rates: it’s worth noting that conversion rates on different platforms vary. On Instagram, the benchmark engagement rate (reactions, comments, shares) is 0.68%, according to Hootsuite. For Facebook, the benchmark engagement rate is 0.06%.

How can I target my market on social media?

If you target a range of people, you may want to use a range of social media sites. Either way, you’ll need to tailor your content to the platform you use, and the people you want to reach.

Meta – the company behind Facebook and Instagram – has a guide to creating targeted ads, as well as guides and tools for B2B marketers that are worth checking out. Twitter has a pile of resources too, which can be useful for creating targeted campaigns for specific users.

You can also run your idea or piece of content past our SenseCheck panel, for an unbiased, human opinion on your marketing messaging… Check out our guide to submitting an idea to our SenseCheck team, or go ahead and sign up to get started.