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    Which B2B companies are best at using social media?

    Updated October 19, 2026

    Key takeaway

    There is no single agreed ranking, but HubSpot is named by four engines (Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Mode, ChatGPT), Salesforce by four (Perplexity, Google AI Mode, ChatGPT, Copilot), and Slack by three (Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot). Their shared reason is that these firms offer education, humor and human storytelling rather than product pitches. The engines say the best B2B brands drop dry corporate jargon and give audiences useful content first. HubSpot is praised for education and thought leadership, Slack for human voice and humor, and Salesforce for thought leadership mixed with personality. Several answers cite roundup articles such as Informa TechTarget and TopRank.

    Mostly agree

    HubSpot is a top B2B social media performer.

    Salesforce is among the best B2B social brands.

    Slack stands out for human, humorous social content.

    Mailchimp excels through creative branding and a distinctive voice.

    Where they differ

    Which companies make the list beyond the common few

      Whether agencies count as B2B social leaders

        Which platforms are emphasized

          Verdict

          There is no single agreed ranking, but HubSpot is named by four engines (Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Mode, ChatGPT), Salesforce by four (Perplexity, Google AI Mode, ChatGPT, Copilot), and Slack by three (Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot). Their shared reason is that these firms offer education, humor and human storytelling rather than product pitches.

          What engines actually searched

          The sub-queries each engine actually searched before answering.

          Cited, but not mentioned

          2 sites cite this answer without naming anyone

          Full responses

          5 of 5 engines that answered. Full stored text as captured, with dashes shown as hyphens. Nothing is summarised.

          ChatGPT6,068 characters · October 7, 2026

          If by “best” you mean B2B companies that consistently make social content people actually want to consume - rather than just posting product announcements - these are the ones I’d study.

          My B2B social-media shortlist

          CompanyWhat they’re exceptionally good atBest channel(s)
          GongTurning proprietary data + sales expertise into highly shareable contentLinkedIn, YouTube
          HubSpotMaking marketing/sales education entertaining and culturally relevantLinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
          NotionProduct storytelling, creator/community content, visual brandLinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
          SlackHuman voice, workplace humor, cultural relevanceLinkedIn, Instagram
          CanvaMaking a B2B-ish product feel like a consumer brandTikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn
          AhrefsEducational content that earns attention without feeling like advertisingYouTube, LinkedIn, X
          SemrushData-driven marketing content + personalityLinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram
          MailchimpDistinctive brand voice and creative storytellingInstagram, LinkedIn
          ShopifyFounder/entrepreneur stories and business educationYouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn
          SalesforceExecutive thought leadership + major-event amplificationLinkedIn, YouTube

          🥇 If I had to pick just five

          1. Gong - best overall B2B content model

          Gong is probably my favorite example for a traditional B2B SaaS company. Its content doesn't constantly scream “buy Gong.” Instead, it owns a subject - sales and revenue performance - and repeatedly gives its audience useful observations, data, opinions and memorable takes.

          It also has significant distribution: Gong's LinkedIn presence is currently around 348K followers, and its recent posts mix product news, customer stories, awards, events and revenue-team insights. Gong | LinkedIn

          Lesson: Own a category of knowledge, not just a product category.


          2. HubSpot - best at turning expertise into a media brand

          HubSpot is the classic benchmark. It has essentially built a media company around marketing, sales, customer service and entrepreneurship.

          What I particularly like is the combination of:

          • genuinely useful educational content
          • recognizable brand voice
          • memes/humor
          • original research
          • executive content
          • product content

          Its current LinkedIn feed is a good illustration: alongside product and research posts, you'll find jokes about sales quotas, Q4, marketing teams, etc. HubSpot | LinkedIn

          HubSpot has ~1.76M LinkedIn followers, giving it enormous distribution as well. HubSpot | LinkedIn

          Lesson: Your social feed shouldn't feel like your product brochure.


          3. Notion - best at product + community + aesthetics

          Notion has figured out something many B2B companies struggle with: make the product itself culturally interesting.

          Its social content frequently showcases how customers actually use Notion, highlights community members and employees, demonstrates product capabilities, and connects the product to broader conversations around AI and the future of work. Notion | LinkedIn

          It has also built a huge LinkedIn audience - currently around 1.1M followers. Notion | LinkedIn

          Lesson: Don't just explain features. Show people what they can become with the product.


          4. Canva - best example of making B2B feel like B2C

          Canva is especially interesting because its audience crosses the B2B/B2C boundary. It doesn't behave like conventional enterprise software marketing.

          Its social presence tends to emphasize:

          • visual creativity
          • trends
          • templates
          • creators
          • cultural moments
          • educational content
          • product utility

          Lesson: If your product is inherently visual, don't let “B2B” become an excuse for boring content.


          5. Ahrefs - best educational/content-marketing machine

          Ahrefs is a great example for companies with complicated products.

          Instead of constantly explaining SEO software, it teaches people how to get better at SEO. The product naturally appears in the educational ecosystem.

          That's an important distinction:

          Bad B2B social: “Here's another feature we launched.”
          Good B2B social: “Here's something your customer desperately wants to know.”

          Lesson: Teach the problem your product solves, rather than constantly teaching the product.

          The pattern behind the best ones

          The interesting thing is that these companies generally don't use social media like a B2B company.

          They behave more like media companies:

          Traditional B2B

          Product → Feature → Announcement → CTA → Demo

          Best-in-class B2B

          Audience → Insight → Entertainment → Conversation → Community → Product

          That's why Gong, HubSpot and Notion stand out to me.

          And there's another increasingly important trend: the company account is only one part of the social strategy. The best B2B companies increasingly distribute ideas through executives, employees, customers and creators - not just the corporate account.

          If you're trying to build a B2B social strategy

          I'd steal one thing from each:

          • Gong: proprietary data and strong opinions
          • HubSpot: educational media + humor
          • Notion: community + product storytelling
          • Canva: visual-first creative
          • Ahrefs: relentless usefulness
          • Slack: human personality
          • Mailchimp: distinctive brand world
          • Shopify: customer/founder stories

          If you tell me what type of B2B company you're interested in (SaaS, professional services, manufacturing, AI, fintech, etc.), I can give you a top 10 specifically for that industry and break down exactly what they're doing on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

          Gemini logo Gemini5,704 characters · October 7, 2026

          When looking at B2B (Business-to-Business) companies that excel on social media, the traditional playbook of dry corporate announcements and stiff stock photography has been completely rewritten. The best B2B brands treat social media like consumer brands - focusing on human-centric storytelling, humor, education, and community building.

          Several standout B2B companies lead the pack through distinct, highly effective social media strategies:

          1. Slack (Master of B2B Humor & Relatable Video)

          2. HubSpot (The Gold Standard for Educational Value)

          • The Strategy: HubSpot doesn't just sell CRM software; they built a massive digital ecosystem dedicated to educating marketers, sales pros, and business owners. Their social channels act as distribution hubs for templates, data-driven insights, quick tips, and career advice. 8 B2B Content Marketing Examples That Dominate (2025) - Fame.so

          • Why it works: They practice "inbound marketing" in real-time. By giving away 95% of their knowledge for free on LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram, they build immense trust and brand affinity. When a growing business finally needs a CRM, HubSpot is the default choice. 8 B2B Content Marketing Examples That Dominate (2025) - Fame.so

          3. Mailchimp (Eclectic Visual Branding & Culture)

          • The Strategy: Mailchimp treats its Instagram and LinkedIn channels like modern art and culture magazines. They lean into quirky animations, bold colors, design-forward imagery, and creative storytelling that highlights small business owners.

          • Why it works: Even though Mailchimp serves a practical B2B function (email marketing and automation), their social feeds focus on celebrating the creativity of entrepreneurship. It proves that software companies catering to creative fields must look creative themselves.

          4. Shopify (Building a YouTube & Community Empire)

          • The Strategy: Shopify dominates YouTube and social channels by acting as an accelerator for entrepreneurs. They publish masterclasses, interviews with successful merchants, teardowns of online stores, and tactical advice on how to scale a business. 8 B2B Social Media Marketing Examples We Loved

          • Why it works: Shopify's success is directly tied to the success of its customers. Their social content helps merchants make more money, which naturally drives them to sign up for and stay on the Shopify platform.

          5. Gong (Data-Driven Insights & "Gong Labs")

          • The Strategy: Gong (a revenue intelligence platform) uses its own data to publish surprising, counter-intuitive insights about B2B sales and buyer behavior (e.g., “How many times should you mention pricing on a sales call?”). 10 Inspiring B2B Content Marketing Examples - PathFactory

          • Why it works: They use social media to share proprietary research data packaged into clean, highly shareable infographics and short text posts on LinkedIn. It positions them as the absolute authority on sales science.

          Key Takeaways from Top B2B Social Media Leaders:

          • Sell the transformation, not the software: Focus on the human pain points (stress, wasted time, scaling growth) rather than listing feature bullets.

          • Entertain first, educate second: The best B2B posts stop the scroll because they are funny, visually striking, or deeply insightful - not because they read like a product brochure.

          • Leverage employee advocacy: Top brands encourage their leaders and employees to build active personal brands on LinkedIn, amplifying company reach far beyond what a corporate logo ever could.

          Are you looking to revamp a social media strategy for a specific type of B2B product or industry?

          Google AI Mode2,103 characters · October 7, 2026

          The best B2B companies on social media succeed by abandoning dry corporate jargon, leaning into human-centric storytelling, and providing genuine value before ever making a pitch. Instead of treating social networks as static advertising billboards, they build engaged professional communities.

          The top-performing B2B brands across social channels feature standout strategies from industry leaders:

            • HubSpot - A gold standard in inbound marketing, HubSpot dominates platforms like LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter) by prioritizing educational resources, free tools, and masterclasses. They answer audience pain points directly, positioning their CRM platform as an authoritative industry guide rather than a hard-sell product.
          • Mailchimp - Known for turning a software-as-a-service (SaaS) tool into a widely recognized brand, Mailchimp injects creative visual storytelling, humor, and snackable tips into channels like TikTok and Instagram. They prove that even backend automation and email marketing software can cultivate a playful, highly engaged community.

          • Adobe - Balancing corporate prestige with modern creative expression, Adobe excels across LinkedIn and Instagram by showcasing real-world business impact through customer-led case studies, live streams, and highlighting internal company culture.

          • General Electric (GE) - Long celebrated for making an "industrial" and technical sector feel exciting, GE leverages visual platforms like Instagram (such as their famous #GEInstaWalk influencer campaigns) to turn heavy manufacturing and green tech into awe-inspiring, human-driven visual narratives.

          • Salesforce - Salesforce masters the balance between expert utility and approachable personality on X and LinkedIn. Their social teams mix high-value industry data, product updates, and thought leadership with relatable humor, GIFs, and active follower interactions.

          Would you like to explore how to apply these strategies to a specific B2B niche, or dive deeper into the tactics used on a platform like LinkedIn versus TikTok?

          Perplexity959 characters · October 19, 2026

          Strong examples include Cisco, which tailors content to each platform; HubSpot, which builds an audience with useful resources and thought leadership; Salesforce, known for creative social campaigns; and ACCIONA, whose targeted LinkedIn videos drew over a million unique viewers.(informatechtarget.com)(blog.socialmediastrategiessummit.com)(elevationb2b.com)(toprankmarketing.com)

          Copilot logo Copilot3,553 characters · October 7, 2026

          Here are some of the B2B companies that stand out in 2025 for their social media excellence:

          🌟 Tech & SaaS Leaders

          🏢 Enterprise Giants

          📊 Agencies Excelling in B2B Social

          🔑 Common Success Strategies

          • Thought leadership: Sharing insights, not just promotions.

          • Content repurposing: Turning blogs into videos, webinars, and infographics.

          • Community building: Creating spaces (LinkedIn groups, Slack communities) for peer-to-peer engagement.

          • Humanizing the brand: Showcasing employees, behind-the-scenes culture, and authentic storytelling.

          👉 Would you like me to break this down into platform-specific best practices (e.g., LinkedIn vs. Instagram vs. YouTube), so you can see which companies excel on each channel?