Advertising on LinkedIn vs Facebook: How do you decide which is best for your business?

So, where do you start?

Facebook and LinkedIn are two of the most popular social media platforms available and they provide a huge number of opportunities to reach your ideal customers. 

Both platforms have a number of similarities and differences which it’s important to be aware of before investing your budget. Understanding the opportunities, benefits and disadvantages of each channel can help you to make the best decision for your business. 

Let’s have a look at the two channels in more detail before we look at the differences: 

LinkedIn Advertising

LinkedIn is a professional network that was originally used as a corporate recruitment tool but it has now developed and offers a number of similar features to other social media platforms such as status updates, blogging and private messages. 

LinkedIn now has over 750 million users worldwide so there are a huge number of people you can reach with your ads. 

A huge number of people use LinkedIn to build professional networks, consume thought-leadership content and sell B2B products and services to a highly targeted audience. 

Ad types on the platform include:

• Sponsored content - this looks like a normal LinkedIn post and appears within users’ newsfeeds. They allow you to reach specific demographics with your content or offers. 
• Sponsored InMail - this is LinkedIn’s instant messaging platform within which users can send and receive text-based messages. If you want to send highly personalised messages to other users, these are perfect. 
• Text ads - these are just like Google search ads and they appear in the sidebar as a block of text with a headline and your brand logo. 
• Dynamic ads - these ads allow you to personalise your efforts to each of your users. They are ideal for building brand awareness, generating leads and driving high quality traffic. 

The type of ad you choose on LinkedIn will depend on the audience you’re targeting, the content you’re promoting and your business goals. 

LinkedIn is a better channel for B2B advertising. It’s easy to identify the key decision makers in the businesses you’re targeting and reach them with personalised ads. 

Facebook Advertising

Facebook was designed for users to share and communicate personal information. Facebook has more users than LinkedIn with 2.91 billion monthly active users - a huge amount of people available for you to reach.

Unlike LinkedIn which is made up mostly of professionals, Facebook’s audience is made up of a number of different people which makes it perfect for a wider range of businesses. 

Every ad you run on Facebook has three components: 

• Type of ad - you can decide what type of ad you want to run, whether it’s image, video, carousel or a collection. 
• Placement - decide where you want your ad to appear. The type of ad you choose will determine where it can be placed but Facebook’s ads appear in feeds, stories, Facebook marketplace, search results and messenger inboxes. You can also show ads on Instagram. 
• Objectives - think about what you want to accomplish with your ads, with Facebook you can run ads for brand awareness, driving traffic, lead generation, app installs and conversions. 

Where LinkedIn is better for B2B advertising, Facebook is a better choice for directly reaching consumers. 

LinkedIn ads vs Facebook ads: What are the main differences? 

There are a few key differences between the two platforms which it’s important to understand if you want to get the most from your budget. 

Advertising options

Facebook offers more ad types and precise targeting tools than LinkedIn. You can also choose ad placements and whether you want to advertise on other channels such as Instagram. 

Ad targeting 

Facebook is known for its targeting options. You might have access to billions of users but you can choose exactly who you want to reach and make sure your ads are shown to the people who are most likely to engage or convert. 

Facebook allows you to target based on:

• Location 
• Demographics 
• Interests
• User behaviour 
• Connections 

You can even take your targeting a step further with lookalike audiences which allows you to expand your reach and custom lists. Compared to other channels, Facebook’s targeting is unmatched which makes it appealing to many businesses who are trying to reach and engage with a particular target audience. 

LinkedIn provides a more professional audience so is more suited to a B2B audience. This audience is more interested in networking with other businesses, looking for business advice and ways they can grow. 

Visuals 

If your brand has a more visual identity, Facebook offers a wider variety of ad formats that allow you to engage with your customers and drive them to your website. 

Facebook ad formats include: 

• Photo link ads 
• Video ads
• Instant experiences 
• Story ads 
• Carousel ads
• Messenger ads 

On the other hand, LinkedIn offers more text-based ads such as:

• Display ads
• Sponsored content 
• Text ads 
• Dynamic ads 

These ad formats allow you to engage with your target audience but are not as suitable if you’re trying to sell products that rely on visuals. 

The channel you choose for your business will depend on your objectives and the products or services you’re offering. In most cases, this will determine the best place to put your budget. 

Budget 

On both ad platforms, you decide how much you’re willing to spend and you can set your own budget. There are differences in the cost-per-click (CPC) for each platform that it’s important to be aware of. 

The average CPC (how much you pay when someone clicks on your ad) is often higher on LinkedIn than it is on Facebook. However, just because you’ll pay less per click on Facebook, it doesn’t mean that’s where you should invest your money. You may more per click on LinkedIn but the leads could be higher value. You should think carefully about who you’re targeting and the kinds of leads you’ll earn. 

What should you consider when choosing between Facebook and LinkedIn?

The channel you choose is all dependent on your business, objectives, what you’re selling and who your target audience is. If you’re still not sure which channel you should be using, ask yourself the following questions.

1. Who is your target audience? 

This is the key question you should be asking before launching any advertising campaign. Each network caters to different audiences so this is essential to get right. 

On LinkedIn, the people consuming and creating the content will always be business minded. Facebook is used to connect with friends and family and share personal pictures. However, they are still open to advertising messages and will buy directly from the platform if you link to products or services. 

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2. Which ad types do you want to use?

Are you looking to run shoppable image ads or video ads? Do you want your ads to be shown on Instagram too? Thinking about these questions will lead you to the right channel. 

Both platforms offer different ad types but Facebook has a much wider range of options. 

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3. What’s your budget?

Think about what you want to spend on your social media advertising. LinkedIn ads may cost more initially but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t allocate some of your budget to them. Your target audience and ad types should play a much bigger role in the platform you choose to advertise on. 

To find out more how social media advertising can help you to achieve your business goals, sign up to our monthly newsletter. 

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