Report looks into the role of content strategy and finds missed opportunity for weekend posting, which has 2.3x higher engagement, allowing brands to stand out.
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, February 6, 2025 -- Oktopost, a leading B2B social media management and employee advocacy platform released today its B2B social media marketing data report, The Tradeoff Between Engagement and Website Traffic in B2B Social, offering a deep dive into the most effective strategies for boosting corporate social media performance.
Oktopost analyzed thousands of social media posts on B2B-centric platforms to compile the report, tracking engagement trends, external link clicks, and company-size impact on content performance metrics. The company found that while posts without external links often achieve higher engagement, posts with external links are critical for directing traffic to company websites and generating leads. This report highlights the need for marketing leaders to strike a strategic balance when posting on social media-leveraging link-free content to build brand visibility and well-timed linked posts to drive tangible business outcomes that justify investments in B2B social media marketing.
Marketing leaders today are already splitting posts between those with and without external links (51% and 49%, respectively) to boost engagement and drive website traffic. The report reveals surprising shifts in audience engagement trends, including the growing power of link-free weekend posts. Saturday and Sunday posts on social platforms like LinkedIn show 2.3x higher engagement, proving that B2B audiences actively seek short-form brand interactions outside regular business hours.
"B2B social media marketing isn't just about posting more-it's about posting smarter to get strong results," said Daniel Kushner, CEO and co-founder of Oktopost. "This new report helps businesses identify the right tools and techniques for managing organic brand social media marketing to maximize engagement, optimize post timing, and adapt to audience behaviors, ultimately driving higher engagement and lead generation to fit their needs."
Key Insights from Oktopost's Data Analysis:
The Engagement vs. Lead Generation Trade-Off:
Posts without external links generate an average of 60% more engagement than posts with external links. In addition, posts that include external links show that, on average, 21% of engagement actions lead to link clicks, highlighting the importance of such posts for potential lead generation.
Best-Performing Content Formats:
Regarding posts without external links, the image gallery comes out on top, achieving 4x more average impressions and 10.8x more average engagements than other content formats.
o PDF attachments perform best for posts with external links, generating 2x more Impressions, 2.2x more Reach, and 6.7x more Engagement. When it comes to driving link clicks, Text posts with one external link are the most effective, achieving 1.8x more clicks than other formats.
o Notably, text-only posts (without images, attachments, or links) also deliver remarkable performance, achieving 2.7x more average impressions, 2.9x higher average reach, and an impressive 171 average engagements per post.
Midweek Matters:
Midweek posts perform best for lead generation, with Wednesday posts generating 47% more clicks on average than other weekdays.
B2B brands should not go silent on weekends:
Weekends are a key time for posting company content without external links, as engagement on Saturday/Sunday more than doubles. This proves that professionals still interact with B2B social platforms on weekends but seek easy-to-digest content. This is especially surprising, as the report shows that 96% of company channel posts are published on weekdays, almost ignoring weekends. Companies overwhelmingly focus on workweek posting due to a long-standing assumption that B2B audiences are not active on professional social on weekends.
Company Size Matters:
Large-sized companies (5,001-10,000 employees) generate 59% more impressions per post, while smaller enterprises (501-1,000 employees) see a 5.6x higher lead generation (click) rate compared to the largest companies (10,000+ employees). This highlights differences in baseline audience engagement based on company size and employee social activity. Social media is a palace where mid-size companies can cost-effectively impact their website traffic from organic social.
Seasonal Patterns:
January 2024 stood out as a peak month for engagement, with posts containing external links demonstrating 43% more engagement and 48% more average clicks per post compared to April, July, or October 2024. This proves January is a very effective month for visibility and lead generation.
The findings underscore the critical role of timing, format selection, and content strategy in driving engagement and conversions for B2B organizations leveraging social media. To maximize impact, marketers should focus on visually compelling content, such as image gallery posts and carousel PDFs, to capture attention initially and encourage deeper engagement. For more lead generation clicks, posting engaging texts that include an external link midweek optimizes link click engagements, while leveraging weekends for native content to drive engagement can be highly effective.
Additionally, aligning content strategy with seasonal trends can drive significant improvements-planning campaigns around peak months like January, post-winter holidays, and July (pre-summer vacations) ensures the content reaches audiences when they are most responsive.
For the full report, which includes additional insights from The Tradeoff Between Engagement and Website Traffic on B2B Social
Oktopost is a B2B social media management platform that helps marketing and revenue teams drive engagement, measure success, and link social media to revenue growth. Trusted by thousands of marketing professionals in some of the world's leading B2B technology and financial services companies, Oktopost provides a powerful suite of solutions for social media publishing, business intelligence, social listening, and employee advocacy, all in one platform. For more information, visit oktopost.com.
Mushkie Meyer
pr@oktopost.com
einnews.com