Recently I was questioning some theories on the big social networks. My theory was that every social networking (via a platform) only works if you know how to work it. But, once you figure out how to work it then they change it and you have to modify your methods a bit.
The real theory is that every platform other than LinkedIn bites for B2B. I think that Facebook, Twitter, G+ are good for other things like news and location based events but if you are selling big ticket items and looking for influencers you need to spend less time combing the high schools and invest more time on LinkedIn.
B2B Buyers Are on LinkedIn
B2B buyers don’t participate on networks other than LinkedIn. Well, they set up a profile and work on it while looking for a position but for the most part it isn’t a big activity for them since they need to get things done at work.
I measured this a little bit in my head but never really dove in on a specific measurement until now. I used LinkedIn a lot and am very familiar with the features but wanted to take a look at email habits of its users. I took a data set and ran it across all of the networks and came up with some facts that supported my hypothesis.
Recently I traveled across the country on a road show, Shift Left Tour, touting some application development improvements. I required that attendees register and RSVP since I had small venues and limited space. I grabbed some contact and profile information from them but did not ask for a certain email address (lots of B2B marketers require your work email). These events were not advertised with paid search or media placements but advertised via sales force referrals. The infographic below shows what networks all of the registered attendees are on and what type of email they supplied (work vs. personal).
Recent sample of IT professionals registering for local meeting with a technical analyst. There were no limitations on whether or not registrants used business or personal email addresses. Results achieved with Gmail, Rapportive plugin, and Google Advanced Boolean Search.