At a Glance

  • Why assumptions like “LinkedIn is best for B2B” can cost you real ROI
  • The problem with platform-first planning in a multi-platform world
  • How your audience’s actual behaviour challenges industry “truths”
  • The case for following the customer journey, not platform reputation

Too many marketing strategies start with where we think our audience is. But buyers don’t live inside platforms — they live across them. This post unpacks why putting your faith in assumptions instead of attribution data might be the most expensive mistake in your media mix.

Part of the Series: Attribution Decoded

This blog is part of our Attribution Decoded series – a 3-part deep dive into how attribution thinking can transform the way you measure, understand, and influence growth. In a world where customer journeys are fragmented across platforms, assumptions fall short. This series explores why following the person, not just the platform, leads to better decisions and more effective marketing.

Explore the full series:

Follow the Person, Not the Platform: Why Attribution Beats Assumptions in Digital Marketing
A foundational look at how most attribution models miss the mark — and what marketers get wrong about platform-centric measurement.

Follow the Person, Not the Platform: Smarter Attribution for Smarter Growth
Zooming in on how attribution can fuel more strategic media and growth decisions when rooted in human journeys, not channel silos.

Follow the Person, Not the Platform: How Journey Mapping Beats Assumptions
A hands-on guide to mapping real customer paths, challenging legacy models, and shifting from platform-led reporting to person-led insight.

The LinkedIn Assumption: Where It All Begins

“LinkedIn is the best for B2B.”
 Heard that one before?

It’s one of digital marketing’s most persistent mantras, especially in B2B circles. And it makes sense on the surface – LinkedIn is the professional network, so surely it’s where B2B decision-makers hang out. That’s why it often gets a lion’s share of budget and attention.

But here’s the problem: assumptions like this are shortcuts. They’re not built on your specific data, and that’s where things get risky.

In truth, today’s customer journey is platform-fluid. B2B buyers scroll Instagram while making dinner. They check Facebook before bed. They might click a Google ad while researching solutions in between meetings. If you’re only showing up in one place because “that’s where B2B lives,” you’re missing out on parts of their actual journey.

That’s why attribution – understanding which touchpoints actually drive results – matters more than ever.

The Cost of Assumptions: What the Data Actually Says

Let’s talk numbers. LinkedIn does offer great targeting – job titles, industries, company sizes – but at a cost. Literally.

According to WebFX, LinkedIn’s average CPC sits at $5.26. Facebook’s? About $0.97. That’s more than a 5x difference.

And it’s not just CPC. Facebook dwarfs LinkedIn in user base – over 2.4 billion monthly active users vs LinkedIn’s 260 million. One Meta study even found that advertisers generated 55 million more impressions on Facebook than LinkedIn with less than half the budget (source: metadata.io).

Now, does that mean Facebook is better for B2B? Not necessarily. But it does mean you should look beyond surface-level labels like “B2C” and “B2B.” Because if your audience is seeing your ad on Facebook while scrolling during lunch, that might be just as important as your LinkedIn ad at 10 AM.

Attribution in Action: Real-World Channel Bias

Here’s an example we’ve seen more than once.

A B2B SaaS client ran all their paid budget through LinkedIn for six months. Leads came in, but volume was low and cost per lead was high. The marketing team insisted it was the “only serious option” for their space.

We suggested testing a small portion of the budget across Meta and Google Display. The results? Meta drove a 4x increase in top-of-funnel engagement at one-quarter of the cost. And with a solid retargeting setup, those users converted later via search or direct traffic.

What unlocked this insight? Attribution tracking. Seeing how Facebook warmed up audiences and LinkedIn or Google closed the deal changed everything about how the budget was allocated.

Without attribution, all those warm-up clicks would’ve looked like “wasted spend” because they didn’t convert immediately. But in reality, they were the start of the customer journey.

What Good Attribution Actually Looks Like

Attribution isn’t about giving all the credit to the last click. It’s about understanding how all touchpoints work together.

There are multiple attribution models – first-touch, last-touch, linear, time decay, etc. – and no single model is perfect. But even a basic multi-touch view will outperform assumption-based planning.

Good attribution answers questions like:

  • Which channels are building awareness efficiently?
  • What drives consideration or return visits?
  • Where are conversions actually happening?
  • What combo of platforms is most cost-effective overall?

It helps you see the real buyer journey instead of just guessing.

Platform Roles: It’s Not Either/Or

Too often, marketers think in silos. “Should we use LinkedIn or Meta?” But the better question is: what role does each play in our funnel?

Here’s a simple framework:

  • Meta (Facebook/Instagram): Cheaper reach, passive discovery, retargeting gold.
  • Google: High-intent capture, where searchers go to act.
  • LinkedIn: High-credibility, precision targeting, great for thought leadership and bottom-funnel in B2B.

Your audience doesn’t care about your channel logic. They just care about solving their problem – and they’ll touch multiple platforms along the way. Your job is to meet them wherever they are, with the right message for that moment.

Don’t Follow the Platform. Follow the Person.

Let’s wrap this up simply: Attribution gives you the power to follow the person, not just the platform. And when you do that, your budget works smarter, your messaging gets sharper, and your marketing becomes a lot more human.

So the next time someone tells you “LinkedIn is best for B2B,” smile politely – and then go check your data.

Because the only thing more expensive than a premium CPC… is a bad assumption.

Up Next:

Follow the Person, Not the Platform: Smarter Attribution for Smarter Growth

Not all clicks are equal — and neither are the models that measure them. In Part 2, we explore why multi-touch attribution beats last-click logic, how it works in real campaigns, and what businesses gain when they give credit where credit’s actually due.