B2B Social Media Marketing: What’s Actually Working Now — and What Needs to Change

In 2026, social media remains firmly embedded in B2B strategies — but how it’s being deployed, measured, and targeted is evolving quickly. What I’m seeing across brands and agencies is less about chasing the next platform and more about getting back to fundamentals: relevance, credibility, and real human connection.

Recent industry research reinforces this shift. According to eMarketer, social media continues to rank at the top of marketers’ priority lists, ahead of many other digital channels. But prioritization alone doesn’t guarantee performance. The real challenge marketers face now is making social more effective — especially as targeting limitations, signal loss, and audience fatigue continue to grow.

Why Social Still Dominates — Even as Expectations Rise

Social hasn’t earned its place because it’s easy. It’s earned it because it’s where people — and increasingly decision-makers — spend time engaging, learning, and forming opinions. Marketers aren’t pulling back from social; if anything, the eMarketer research shows they’re doubling down.

What has changed is what success looks like.

High impression counts and surface-level engagement are no longer enough. Marketing leaders are under pressure to show that social activity connects to real business outcomes — awareness with the right buyers, pipeline influence, and long-term brand trust. That’s forcing a more honest look at who is actually being reached and whether those audiences truly matter.

What B2B Social Is Getting Right — and Where It Still Falls Short

One of the strongest themes emerging in B2B social today is the shift toward human presence over polished brand broadcasts, according to a recent article in Martech Is Marketing, which states that what’s working is refreshingly straightforward:

• Social performs better when real people show up — founders, marketers, engineers, leaders — not just logos.
• Engagement needs to be mutual. Publishing without interacting rarely builds credibility or visibility.
• Audiences respond to human tone and thoughtful participation, not automation for automation’s sake.

These ideas aren’t new, but they’ve become non-negotiable. Platforms increasingly reward authentic participation, and buyers can tell when content is performative rather than purposeful.

The Targeting Gap Many Marketers Are Confronting

At the same time, there’s a reality more marketers are quietly acknowledging from our experience, traditional social audience targeting hasn’t been as effective as it should be.

For years, targeting has leaned heavily on modeled profiles, inferred interests, and platform-specific signals that lack real business context. In practice, that often means ads are delivered to audiences that appear relevant but don’t reflect actual buyers or decision-makers.

That disconnect shows up in wasted spend, inconsistent results, and growing skepticism about ROI — even when creative and messaging are strong.

What’s Working Better Now

What I see working today is a more disciplined approach to audience strategy, paired with smarter activation:

• Defining who you need to reach before deciding where to reach them
• Grounding social audiences in real people and real companies, not abstract segments
• Using social as part of a connected, omnichannel strategy, where audience consistency reinforces relevance rather than fragmenting it

When social targeting is rooted in reality, engagement becomes more meaningful — and performance becomes easier to evaluate.

What’s Next

Looking ahead in 2026, I believe the next phase of social marketing will be defined by trust.

Trust that the audience actually exists.
Trust that engagement reflects genuine interest.
Trust that investment is reaching people who can act — not just scroll.

Across the industry, I see a growing recognition that accuracy is becoming a competitive advantage. Not just in data, but in how brands show up, how they engage, and how seriously they take the responsibility of reaching the right people.

Social media will continue to dominate marketing strategies. But the brands that win won’t be the loudest or the most automated. They’ll be the ones that understand who they’re talking to, engage authentically, and respect their audience enough to get targeting right.

That’s the bar marketers are being held to now — and it’s one worth meeting.

I invite you to connect with our team for a consultation on how we can assist you in reaching the right audience with social, and by that I mean real people (not bots) and verified decision-makers who align with your offers.