LinkedIn is a professional networking platform designed for B2B marketing and career development, while Facebook is a social networking platform focused on personal connections and B2C engagement. LinkedIn generates 2-3x higher conversion rates for B2B sales, whereas Facebook's 3 billion+ users make it ideal for broad consumer reach.
LinkedIn vs Facebook — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Both platforms serve distinct but complementary purposes in 2026. LinkedIn excels for B2B marketing with superior conversion rates and professional targeting, making it essential for enterprise sales teams. Facebook dominates in reach and consumer engagement, with recent algorithm improvements supporting organic content growth, making it superior for B2C brands and mass-market campaigns.
Professional social network and recruitment platform with 930M+ users.
Global social network with 3.07 billion users focused on content sharing, messaging, groups, and advertising.
Structured comparison data for LinkedIn vs Facebook with 132 attributes.
Personal Profile Engagement vs Company Pages
Paying Organizations/Enterprise Customers
Video Content (Reels/Stories) Engagement Share
Algorithm Content Discovery Effectiveness
LinkedIn vs Facebook — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for LinkedIn vs Facebook.
Is LinkedIn better than Facebook for job searching?
LinkedIn is significantly better than Facebook for job searching. LinkedIn Jobs lists 50+ million open positions at any time, with AI-powered matching that delivers personalized job recommendations based on your skills, experience, and job search history. LinkedIn's Easy Apply feature lets you submit applications in seconds using your profile data. LinkedIn provides visibility into who viewed your profile (for Premium subscribers), warm introduction paths through your network to hiring managers, and direct InMail messaging to recruiters. Company research is built in — LinkedIn profiles show who works at a company, their seniority, and often provide behind-the-scenes employee satisfaction signals. Facebook does have a Jobs feature (Facebook Jobs), which is useful for hourly and local jobs, retail, and service roles that smaller businesses post through their pages. Facebook is genuinely effective for finding local opportunities that small businesses post through their Facebook pages. For professional, corporate, or skilled roles, LinkedIn has no serious competition. For hourly, retail, or gig work at local businesses, Facebook is a legitimate search channel.
Which is better for business marketing, Facebook or LinkedIn?
It depends on your target customer. Facebook wins for B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing at scale: 2.9 billion reachable users with the most sophisticated demographic, interest, and behavioral targeting available — combined with the lowest CPMs in digital advertising. If you're selling consumer products, running a local business, or driving e-commerce conversions, Facebook Ads' combination of reach and targeting make it extremely efficient. LinkedIn wins for B2B (business-to-business) marketing: the ability to target by job title, company size, industry, seniority level, and professional skills is unique to LinkedIn and invaluable for reaching business decision-makers. LinkedIn ads cost 3-5x more per click than Facebook, but B2B buyers who see LinkedIn ads are 6x more likely to convert and the lead quality (matching your ideal customer profile) is dramatically higher. Most B2B companies use LinkedIn for top-of-funnel awareness and lead gen, then use LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms or targeted landing pages for conversion. Consumer brands rarely find LinkedIn's higher CPMs justified. Rule of thumb: if your customer is a job title (CTO, CFO, HR director, marketing manager), LinkedIn. If your customer is a demographic or interest group, Facebook.
Do people actually use Facebook anymore?
Yes — Facebook's active user base continues to grow globally despite perception in younger demographics that it's declining. Facebook reached 3.27 billion monthly active users in Q1 2026, the highest in the company's history. However, the demographic composition has shifted dramatically: the heaviest Facebook users in the US and Western Europe are now 35-65+, while 18-24 year olds spend most social media time on TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. Facebook Groups and Facebook Marketplace have become the platform's most engaged features — people who don't post personal updates often remain active Facebook users specifically for Groups (neighborhood communities, hobby groups, buy-sell-trade groups) and Marketplace commerce. For anyone targeting audiences over 40, Facebook remains essential. For anyone targeting Gen Z primarily, other platforms offer higher engagement. The most accurate framing: Facebook didn't lose users; it gained many older users while younger users' attention migrated to Instagram and TikTok (both of which Meta also owns).
Should I use LinkedIn or Facebook for personal branding?
Use LinkedIn for professional personal branding and Facebook for personal/community branding — they serve different brand contexts. LinkedIn is the standard platform for building professional credibility: your LinkedIn profile serves as a public resume and professional bio, your content reaches industry peers, recruiters, and potential clients, and LinkedIn's algorithm rewards expertise-sharing (industry insights, professional lessons, career advice). A strong LinkedIn presence directly supports career advancement, consulting opportunities, and B2B business development. Facebook personal branding is more appropriate for community leadership, local business owners, creators with a personal audience, or anyone whose brand is built on personal relationships rather than professional expertise. Facebook Groups and Pages allow you to build communities around your interests or local influence. Many professionals use both: LinkedIn for professional reputation and career network, Facebook for personal community and engagement with fans/customers at a more human, personal level.