Q1 B2B Social Logins Update: Facebook Takes Top Spot as LinkedIn Drops

A new Janrain study shows that Facebook took over the top spot for B2B social logins in the first quarter of 2015 as LinkedIn logins fell to 25 percent, marking a 10 percent drop from the fourth quarter of last year.

The data shows that Facebook saw an increase from 24 percent to 35 percent in the past quarter, surpassing Google Plus, LinkedIn and Twitter. Researchers believe that Facebook’s new focus on consumer data privacy and increased control over personal data may have driven its quarterly gains.

However, “Upcoming changes to the LinkedIn API, including a new, independent API for enabling job applicants on a corporate website to ‘Apply with LinkedIn,’ as well changes to their social sharing settings may create further shifts over the next few quarters,” wrote Alexandra Larralde on the Janrain blog.

The Use of Social Media for Content Distribution

The Eccolo Media 2015 B2B Technology Content Survey Report recently found that over the past six months, 32 percent of B2B buyers had received vendor content through LinkedIn that helped them make a technology purchase. However, 34 percent of respondents said that they had found similar content on Facebook.

The types of content that B2B buyers were seeking out via social media were case studies (25 percent), technology guides (16 percent) and white papers (16 percent). Infographics, slide shows and e-books were near the bottom of the list.

A total of 38 percent of respondents said that they did not use any vendor content from social media sites to make a technology purchase over the past six months.