- The computer systems design sector is the most active B2B industry on Facebook
- Creative and comms businesses are surprisingly bad at sparking reactions on Meta’s leading social media platform
- Expert shares pro tips to revive engagement for B2B firms: humanize, reformat and boost
StoryChief.io’s study on B2B companies’ social media engagement reveals surprising trendsetters, despite the general perception of lackluster presence. The research highlights businesses that effectively engage with audiences on Facebook, challenging the notion of a lackluster social media presence.
Accenture, Sandia Labs, Optum, Tata Consultancy Services, and Cognizant have emerged as the frontrunners in this digital arena. These companies are not just participating in the social media space; they are leading it by generating the most reactions to their content. Their success story is an eye-opener for other B2B businesses striving to make their mark online.
This enlightening study scrutinized 44 US-registered firms across nine sectors. These firms are not just any players in the field; they are the top ten companies within their respective sectors, as classified by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), based on their annual sales volumes as of July 2022. The engagement rates considered in this research are based on the average reactions per post for all content published on their main Facebook pages throughout October 2023.
However, not all sectors are faring equally well. Businesses in specialized design, legal services, and PR and advertising are trailing behind, facing the lowest engagement rates. This discrepancy highlights a significant gap in how different industries leverage social media for business growth and customer engagement.
The findings of this study are not just numbers and rankings; they are a testament to the evolving landscape of social media in the business world. They provide valuable insights for companies looking to enhance their online presence and engage more effectively with their audience.
As we delve deeper into the digital age, the importance of a robust social media presence cannot be overstated, especially for B2B companies. This study by StoryChief.io serves as both a benchmark and a roadmap for businesses aiming to elevate their digital footprint and foster meaningful connections with their audience on social media platforms.
- Computer systems design and related services – 63 reactions/post
Businesses in the computer systems design sector have the highest engagement rates among all B2B companies evaluated by StoryChief.io. Excluding an organically viral post from Accenture in October that may skew the overall results, the average rate of engagement for the industry is 63 reactions per Facebook post. The median number of posts per month is 14.6. However, the quality of each post determines how engaging a piece of content is, more than any other factor.
Accenture still leads the sector, even without the viral post taken into account, with an average of 247 reactions per post and only one post per week. However, Accenture has a large follower base to rely on, counting around 913,200 likes as at November 13, 2023, while smaller pages like Leidos’, which has 14,000 likes, still attract healthy engagement rates of 42 reactions per post across content published almost daily.
- Management, scientific and technical consulting services – 44 reactions/post
Management, scientific and technical consulting services have the second-best engagement rates of all top-selling business-to-business firms in the US. Although the page follower count is much smaller compared to businesses in computer system design, they tend to publish once a day and attract an average of 44 reactions per post. Relative to their page size, firms in this sector are slightly more engaging than those in computer system design. Healthcare plan provider Optum is the best in their industry at engaging Facebook users, averaging 115 reactions across 36 posts published in October.
- Scientific research and development services – 37 reactions/post
Businesses in scientific research and development services are the third best at engaging Facebook users among all the leading American B2B companies. Despite much smaller page sizes, they attract 37 reactions per post. Pharmaceutical company Charles River Lab has the best engagement rate in the industry, averaging 62 reactions per post across 24 pieces of content published in October 2023. They often use real-life photos uploaded directly to their Facebook page, which generated good engagement rates, especially compared to many other B2B companies whose content is rarely associated with real-life people.
Biotech company IQVIA is the second most engaging company in their industry and has a good balance of effort and reactions. Though it posts once or twice a week, the content is adapted to Facebook’s native formats, which leads to good organic engagement, averaging 259 reactions per post.
Top 10 B2B businesses acing Facebook
| B2B Business | Facebook page likes | Total organic posts in October 2023 | Average reactions per post |
| Accenture | 913,200 | 5 | 1,817 |
| Sandia National Labs | 22,800 | 22 | 166 |
| Optum | 198,600 | 36 | 115 |
| Tata Consultancy Services | 778,800 | 27 | 107 |
| Cognizant | 399,400 | 4 | 88 |
| Charles River Labs | 21,900 | 24 | 62 |
| Burns & McDonnell | 10,000 | 11 | 54 |
| IQVIA | 62,000 | 5 | 52 |
| IDEXX | 126,000 | 14 | 50 |
| Johnson Controls | 128,800 | 26 | 47 |
Overall, across all nine B2B sectors, Accenture is the most engaging business on Facebook, followed by Sandia National Labs, Optum and Tata Consultancy Services. Sandia National Labs often shares highly informative, science-backed updates. Despite a relatively small Facebook page size of just 22,800 likes, it generates an average of 166 reactions per post across 22 pieces of content.
Indian IT outsourcer Tata Consultancy Services has the second largest Facebook pages across America’s top-selling B2B businesses, counting around 778,800 likes. It is the fourth most engaging B2B company, with an average of 107 reactions per post, publishing content almost daily. Their content is as adapted to Facebook’s native formats as possible, leading to maximized engagement rates.
No spark from creative, legal and comms
Surprisingly, creative sectors that could harness their services’ visual perform worst of all top-selling B2B companies in America. Specialized design services need a better Facebook presence to start with, accompanied by negligeable engagement rates.
Legal services are the second worst at engaging Facebook users, with an abundance of blog post links, infamous for performing poorly on Meta’s leading social media platform. The third worst at sparking reactions from Facebook users are, shockingly, businesses specialized in communication – Advertising, PR and related services.
Pro tips to revive Facebook engagement: humanize, reformat and boost
Valeri Potchekailov, CEO of StoryChief.io, commented on the findings: “Small B2B brands generally deprioritize their communication on Facebook, perhaps in favor of LinkedIn, for lack of resources. However, the top-grossing businesses we evaluated could easily invest in uplifting their engagement rates on Facebook, if not for business leads, at least for the company’s prestige. It does not exactly scream ‘leadership’ to be a multi-billion dollar company with four likes per Facebook post.
“Our research suggests that humanizing B2B translates into better social media engagement. Because Facebook caters predominantly towards consumers, a quick solution in terms of content is to find topics that end-consumers of your services can relate to or find useful. For example, you could highlight the company’s corporate social responsibility activities or assess the positive impact your business is having on specific communities.
“Try adapting your content into Facebook-friendly formats, like live videos, series of storytelling posters or vertical, subtitled reels. Avoid posting links because Facebook algorithmically tries to prevent its users from leaving the platform, thus resulting in significantly lower engagement rates. Instead, you could post a picture and include the link in the comments section as a more organic call to action.
“Finally, put some money behind that good content to get the ball rolling because engagement will rarely just happen overnight, even with the most brilliant pieces of content. Keep your advertising targeting uncomplicated to make the most of your budget, stay consistent, and you will notice the changes within a few months.”
The study was carried out by StoryChief.io, a leading content operations platform specializing in centralized collaborative social media content creation, distribution and metrics.
