The importance of appropriate use depending on the type of business
B2B companies do not use the same social networks as those that are directly aimed at the final consumer (B2C). The size of the company can also influence the choice of the most suitable platform.
There are many social networks, and they can have very different formats, target audiences, and purposes. Rather than creating accounts on all platforms, it’s better to find out which ones are most relevant to your business type and field of activity.
B2C vs. B2B
Companies whose products or services are intended for other professionals (B2B, business to business) prefer other types of social networks than those that are directly aimed at the final consumer (B2C, business to customer).
Published in 2024 by Social Media Examiner, the "Social Media Marketing Industry Report" shows interesting differences in how companies use social media based on their type. For B2C companies, the most important platform remains Facebook (51% of respondents), followed by Instagram (30%), LinkedIn (8%) and YouTube (7%). Next comes TikTok (2%) and X (2%). For B2B companies, LinkedIn came first (44%), followed by Facebook (33%), Instagram (17%), YouTube (4%), TikTok (1%) and X (1%).
There are also differences in the type of content. B2B organisations focus more on text creation (32%) than B2C companies (20%). Images represent 29% of the content generated by B2C companies, compared to 23% for B2B. Generally speaking, videos account for the largest share of content generated by all companies. They make up almost half (49%) of the content created by B2C organisations, compared to 43% for B2B.
Tips on how to choose the right social network for your business can be found here:
Advantage for SMEs
More than a third (36.5%) of Swiss SMEs now have a presence on social media, according to a study by the University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons published in October 2020. Following international trends, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn are the most used platforms by Swiss companies. Almost 15% of SMEs are on both Facebook and Instagram, 9.8% only have an account on Facebook, and 8.8% switch between Facebook and LinkedIn.
However, there are large disparities with regard to the return on investment of a social media presence depending on the size of the company. According to "Social Media Schweiz," published in 2022 by Bernet PR and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), companies with more than 250 employees are twice as likely to consider that the usefulness of these platforms is greater than the efforts required to be there when compared to small and medium-sized enterprises. Only 6% of organisations with up to 10 employees consider the investment worthwhile.
One third of companies with up to 10 employees also work with influencers. Surprisingly, companies with 51 to 100 employees collaborate more with influencers (85%) than large companies with more than 250 people (76%). More information about influencer marketing here:
Evolution of the main platforms
The use of social media and related tools is evolving very rapidly. The "Social Media Marketing Industry Report" 2024 analysed the popularity of major platforms over the past few years.
- Facebook is on the decline. While it remains the most used platform, Facebook is losing its appeal. The social network accounted for 67% of users in 2018, compared to 44% in 2024. Only 35% of marketers plan to increase their organic Facebook activity in the next 12 months.
- Instagram is very popular. Almost 80% of marketers use Instagram, the second-largest platform after Facebook. More than half of the experts also plan to increase their organic activities on the platform over the next 12 months.
- TikTok is growing. The use of TikTok is rapidly increasing, from 22% in 2023 to almost 30% in 2024. Nearly half of marketers express a desire to expand their knowledge about the platform, and nearly 40% intend to increase their organic activities.
- YouTube is very appealing. Almost 60% of marketing experts plan to use the platform more in the next 12 months. This is the highest rate in any social network. More than 60% of specialists show an interest in learning organic video marketing skills on YouTube.
- Artificial intelligence, an opportunity. Almost 90% of marketing experts feel that AI represents an opportunity for their careers.
In Switzerland, SMEs are increasingly present on social media. However, to ensure effective use, it is better first to establish a strategy to define which platform will best suit your company, industry, and target customer. This process then determines which types of content should be privileged, whether texts, images, or videos.
