Are LinkedIn Ads Truly the Best Choice for B2B Marketing?

Digital advertising platforms are leading the changing field of marketing, helping businesses successfully engage potential clients. These platforms give businesses access to multiple channels like search engines, social media, and websites and help in precise targeting based on demographics.

Digital advertising channels and platforms

Digital advertising platforms make attracting audiences easier, businesses are shifting to digital advertising over traditional advertising. Recent research shows, that 54.2% of marketers prefer digital advertising over traditional advertising highlighting the potential of online marketing channels. The digital advertising platform market is segmented into platform type, Ad formats, and end users. With an astounding 7.33 billion mobile users worldwide and more than 52% of all website traffic coming from mobile devices, the mobile category dominates the platform type segment of the digital advertising platform market.

Social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok are the most widely used digital advertising platforms. In fact, social media advertising accounted for 33% of total digital advertising spending in 2022. LinkedIn Ads leads the social advertising platforms for B2B marketing with an astounding market share of 47.60%. It is a go-to platform for B2B marketers looking to connect with other professionals. Twitter Ads comes in second with a market share of (43.23%), Facebook Ad Manager with 7.89% and Instagram advertising with 0.27%.

In contrast, the top three digital advertising platforms carried out on all digital channels leading the market are Google ads, Facebook ads, and Instagram ads. Approximately, 90% of marketers globally use Facebook ads for their marketing campaigns. 87% of marketers prefer Google ads while 79% of marketers take advantage of Instagram ads.

Digital advertising investments are steadily increasing. Global spending on digital advertising reached $522.5 billion in 2021, which further increased to $567.49 billion in 2022, and it is estimated to reach $601.84 billion by the end of 2023. Digital ad spending is expected to reach $695.96 billion in 2024. The trend is expected to continue, with estimates predicted to reach $835.82 billion by 2026.

Global trends

Programmatic advertising is gaining traction in the digital advertising platform space. Due to its effectiveness, scalability, precise targeting, real-time performance analytics, automation, and cost-effectiveness, it has gained popularity among marketers worldwide. With varying growth rates, programmatic advertising is developing globally.

The world's largest market for programmatic advertising is the United States. The U.S. spent an amazing $106 billion on programmatic advertising in 2021. China came in second spending an astounding $29.61 billion in the same year. While In the U.K. spending on programmatic advertising reached $24 billion in 2021. Moreover, with a projected video investment of $47.1 billion in 2022, video advertising is still the most popular digital tactic.

Another trend in the digital advertising platform is the use of AI. Digital advertising already bears the virtual imprint of AI. Real-time bidding and programmatic advertising are both based on machine learning. Digital advertising platforms use AI to enable custom campaign optimization, conversion rate optimization, and more. In fact, almost three-quarters (72%) of marketing and advertising professionals claim to utilize generative AI tools at least once a month in their work.

For businesses looking to succeed in the digital marketing space, embracing the potential of digital advertising platforms is necessary as they are cost-effective, have a wider audience, engage the target audience, offer operational flexibility, and boost ROI.