Meta and LinkedIn, and why they differ
Meta and LinkedIn are the two paid social platforms most B2B advertisers consider, and they suit different jobs.
LinkedIn Campaign Manager lets you target by job title, function, seniority, company size and industry. That precision is the reason to use it, and clicks there usually cost more.
Meta Ads Manager covers Facebook and Instagram. Its targeting is built on interests, behaviors and lookalikes of your own customer lists rather than job data. It can work for B2B offers aimed at owners of small businesses, who use Facebook in their personal time.
Many advertisers test one before adding the other. The choice depends on who your buyer is and how much you know about them, and a provider should ask about both before recommending either.
Audiences, built and maintained
Audience work is a large share of paid social management, and it differs by platform.
On LinkedIn, targeting draws on profile data: job titles or functions, seniority, company size, industry, and lists of named companies you upload. The risk is making an audience so narrow the campaign barely delivers.
On Meta, the useful audiences are often your own: people who visited your site, people who engaged with your ads or page, and customer lists you upload, which Meta hashes before matching. Lookalikes built from those lists find similar people. Broad targeting, letting the algorithm find responders, is also common now.
Audiences need upkeep. Customer lists go stale, website audiences depend on the pixel firing, and exclusions keep existing customers from seeing prospecting ads.
Consent, customer lists and lead data
Paid social touches personal data in two directions, and both are your responsibility as the advertiser.
Going in: if you upload customer or prospect lists for audiences, you need the right to use that data this way. Meta and LinkedIn hash list data before matching, but the lists remain yours to manage under your own privacy policy.
Coming out: lead forms collect names, emails and often phone numbers. If you plan to call or text people who submit a form, consent wording under the TCPA is something to set up with your own counsel, and the form's consent text should match how you actually follow up. The FCC publishes general consumer guidance on calls and texts.
The provider can build the form fields and disclaimers you decide on.
Questions about paid social campaigns
Should I use Meta or LinkedIn?
It depends on your buyer. LinkedIn targets by job title, seniority, company size and industry, which suits offers aimed at specific roles, and clicks usually cost more. Meta reaches business owners in their personal feeds and relies on interests, website visitors and customer lists. Many advertisers test one before adding the other.
How often does ad creative need changing?
There is no fixed schedule. Creative needs refreshing when the same people have seen it often and stop responding, which shows up as a falling click rate and rising cost per lead. Small B2B audiences, especially on LinkedIn, tend to wear creative out sooner than broad ones.
What does frequency mean in paid social?
Frequency is the average number of times each person in your audience has seen an ad over a period. Some repetition helps people remember you. Too much, with the same creative, tends to bring hides, negative comments and fewer clicks. A provider watches it alongside budget and audience size.
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Search ads
Ads that show when people search for what you sell. Includes search term checks, negative keywords and budget pacing on a regular schedule.
Campaign pages
One page per offer or ad group, so the message a buyer clicked on is the first thing they read.
Tracking audits
A check of what your tags count today, what they miss and what they count twice, with a written list of fixes.