Why B2B Companies Should Lean on LinkedIn Right Now

By: Tiffany Brandon, Social Media Manager

At a time where companies of all types need to invest where it counts most, the numbers make a strong case for LinkedIn: It works, it’s trusted, and it spans the breadth of B2B audience segments. Officially launched in 2003, LinkedIn’s growth has been nothing short of phenomenal!

The social platform now 706+ million members strong (and growing) and with its active member base, presents ample opportunity to get your brand and content out there in front of your target audience.

So why LinkedIn?

Aside from LinkedIn’s user growth, it’s also continued to expand on advertising opportunities, which has helped make it the second most used platform of B2B marketers. Today, it’s becoming quite clear that LinkedIn isn’t just for people in executive corporate roles. With millions of company pages and individual members, there’s a discussion, post, or professional network for almost anyone on this channel.

If LinkedIn’s growth hasn’t caught your attention yet and you want to determine if it’s right for your business, here are some need-to-know stats to help you make an evidence-based case for why you should make LinkedIn a strategic priority in 2021.

B2B Marketers Everywhere Rely on LinkedIn, Because It Works

– LinkedIn is inhabited by 706+ million members in over 200 countries and territories, more than 55 million companies. (LinkedIn internal data)
– Professionals are signing up to join LinkedIn at a rate of nearly 3 new members per second. (LinkedIn internal data)
– LinkedIn members interact with Pages more than 1 billion times per month. (LinkedIn internal data)
– There are 2.9 million groups on LinkedIn, which include industry and interest communities, company and university alumni groups, and professional associations. (LinkedIn internal data)
– In the last 12 months, 96% of B2B marketers used LinkedIn to distribute content. (Content Marketing Institute, July 2020)
– 80% of B2B marketers put paid behind their content on LinkedIn over all other platforms (Content Marketing Institute, July 2020)
– LinkedIn is among the world’s top 10 fastest-growing brands. (BrandZ 2019)

A Trusted and Professional Brand Environment

– LinkedIn has been rated as the “#1 most trusted social media platform” by Business Insider ?for three consecutive years . (Business Insider Digital Trust Report)
– Brands were perceived to be “more professional” (92%), “more intelligent” (74%), “higher quality” (59%), and “more respectable” (59%) when their ad was seen on the LinkedIn platform. (Nielsen study)
– LinkedIn Ads were more effective at driving BrandLift than other top platforms for both B2B and B2C brands (Nielsen study)
– LinkedIn saw a 55% year-over-year increase in conversations among connections on LinkedIn from March 2019 to March 2020, and a 60% year-over-year increase in content creation over the same span. (LinkedIn internal data)
– Sponsored Messaging drives 2x higher open rates and 2x as much engagement compared to traditional email. (LinkedIn internal data)
– Strong brands resonate and drive 10–15% lift in short-term sales performance. (LinkedIn internal data)
– 6.3 million members attended virtual events on LinkedIn following the launch of Events in early 2020. (LinkedIn internal data)
– LinkedIn Live streams have increased 89% since March. (LinkedIn internal data)

Credible Across Verticals and Industries

– In technology, LinkedIn generated 2-5x higher Return On Ad Spend than other social? media platforms (Analytic Partners Study)
– In financial services, LinkedIn generated 7x more incremental? customer sign-ups than display media (Analytic Partners Study)
– In education, LinkedIn was? 2-4x as effective as other display media (Analytic Partners Study)

The industry-specific stats above show that B2B marketers are tapping into this potential, driving fantastic results by zeroing in with the right members and resonating through on-point creative.

You can do the same.

Find your audience on LinkedIn, learn about them, and achieve your marketing objectives — whatever they might be. Ready to return to growth? Let our team at MassMedia help you make the case for why you should invest time on LinkedIn in 2021. Contact us to get started!

*Source: LinkedIn