LinkedIn vs Twitter Multi-Platform Comparison

LinkedIn vs Twitter Social Media ROI Analysis

Summary: LinkedIn Delivers 5x Better Efficiency Despite Lower Impressions

Platform	Hours/Mo	Cost	Revenue	ROI	Signups/Hr
LinkedIn	8	$600	$98.00	-83.7%	1.00
Twitter	20	$1,500	$73.50	-95.1%	0.30
Total	28	$2,100	$171.50	-91.8%	0.50

Platform Rankings

By Efficiency (signups per hour):

1. LinkedIn: 1.00 signups/hr
2. Twitter: 0.30 signups/hr

By Conversion Rate (link click → signup):

1. LinkedIn: 10.0% (80 clicks → 8 signups)
2. Twitter: 5.0% (120 clicks → 6 signups)

By ROI:

1. LinkedIn: -83.7% (least negative)
2. Twitter: -95.1%

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Platform Breakdown

LinkedIn Performance

Time Investment:

• Hours per week: 2
• Hours per month: 8
• Monthly cost: $600

Funnel Metrics:

15,000 impressions
    ↓ 
80 link clicks (0.53% CTR)
    ↓ 10% conversion
8 signups
    ↓ 25% trial-to-paid
2 paying customers

Financial Analysis:

• Monthly revenue: $98.00 (2 × $49)
• Monthly cost: $600
• Net profit: -$502.00
• ROI: -83.7%

Efficiency Metrics:

• Signups per hour: 1.00
• Cost per signup: $75.00
• Revenue per hour: $12.25

Breakeven Analysis:
To break even at $600/month cost, LinkedIn needs:

• 49.0 signups/month (currently at 8)
• OR 12.2 paying customers/month (currently at 2)
• Gap: 41 additional signups needed (6.1x growth)

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Twitter Performance

Time Investment:

• Hours per week: 5
• Hours per month: 20
• Monthly cost: $1,500

Funnel Metrics:

40,000 impressions
    ↓ 
120 link clicks (0.30% CTR)
    ↓ 5% conversion
6 signups
    ↓ 25% trial-to-paid
1.5 paying customers

Financial Analysis:

• Monthly revenue: $73.50 (1.5 × $49)
• Monthly cost: $1,500
• Net profit: -$1,426.50
• ROI: -95.1%

Efficiency Metrics:

• Signups per hour: 0.30
• Cost per signup: $250.00
• Revenue per hour: $3.68

Breakeven Analysis:
To break even at $1,500/month cost, Twitter needs:

• 122.4 signups/month (currently at 6)
• OR 30.6 paying customers/month (currently at 1.5)
• Gap: 116.4 additional signups needed (20.4x growth)

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Strategic Insights

LinkedIn is Your Winner (Despite Negative ROI)

Why LinkedIn outperforms:

• 3.3x more efficient per hour than Twitter (1.00 vs. 0.30 signups/hr)
• 2x better conversion rate from clicks to signups (10% vs. 5%)
• 3.3x lower cost per signup ($75 vs. $250)
• Only 8 hours/month vs. Twitter’s 20 hours

Twitter: High Effort, Weak Returns

The problem:

• 20 hours/month generating only 6 signups (0.30/hr)
• 40,000 impressions but terrible click-through (0.30%)
• 5% conversion suggests audience mismatch or weak content-to-landing page fit
• Cost per signup ($250) is 3.3x higher than LinkedIn

The Hard Truth: Both Platforms Are ROI-Negative

Neither platform is close to profitable:

• LinkedIn needs 6.1x more signups to break even
• Twitter needs 20.4x more signups to break even

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Recommended Reallocation

Current State (28 hrs/month total)

• LinkedIn: 8 hours → 8 signups (1.00/hr)
• Twitter: 20 hours → 6 signups (0.30/hr)

Proposed Reallocation (12 hrs/month social)

Platform	Current	Proposed	Reasoning
LinkedIn	8 hrs	10 hrs	Double down on efficiency leader (+25%)
Twitter	20 hrs	2 hrs	Reduce to scheduled posts only (-90%)
Other channels	0 hrs	16 hrs	Invest saved time elsewhere

Expected outcome (if efficiency holds):

• LinkedIn signups: ~10/month (from 8)
• Twitter signups: ~2/month (from 6)
• Total from social: ~12 signups vs. current 14
• Time saved: 16 hours/month ($1,200 value)

Alternative Channels to Test (16 saved hours)

Activity	Est. Time	Est. Signups	Efficiency	Monthly Cost	Est. ROI
Current Social	28 hrs	14	0.50/hr	$2,100	-91.8%
SEO blog content	12 hrs	8-20/month compounding	0.67-1.67/hr	$900	-60% to +9%
Email newsletter	8 hrs	12-25	1.5-3.1/hr	$600	-34% to +104%
Cold outreach	12 hrs	10-30	0.83-2.5/hr	$900	-22% to +145%

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Action Items

This Week

• Install UTM tracking on all social media links (30 min)
• Audit Twitter time usage for one week (track in spreadsheet)
• Reduce Twitter to 2 hrs/week starting Monday
• Draft first email newsletter issue (2 hrs)

Next 30 Days

• Increase LinkedIn to 2.5 hrs/week (10 hrs/month)
• Keep Twitter at 2 hrs/week (8 hrs/month)
• Launch weekly email newsletter (8 hrs/month)
• Write and publish 2 SEO blog posts (12 hrs/month)
• Track all conversions with UTM parameters

Day 30 Evaluation

• Pull UTM conversion data from analytics
• Calculate actual ROI per channel (use real numbers)
• Compare newsletter + blog vs. social media efficiency
• Decide: continue, optimize, or cut each channel
• Set Q2 marketing time allocation based on data

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Final Verdict

LinkedIn: KEEP (but optimize)

• Best performer by far (1.00 signups/hr)
• Still negative ROI, but closest to breakeven
• Increase to 2.5 hrs/week to test scalability

Twitter: CUT TO MINIMUM

• Terrible ROI (-95.1%) with high time cost
• 0.30 signups/hr is 70% worse than LinkedIn
• Reduce to 30 min/week scheduled posts
• Re-evaluate in 30 days with UTM data

Overall: DIVERSIFY AWAY FROM SOCIAL

• Both platforms are severely ROI-negative
• Save 16 hours/month ($1,200) and test higher-ROI channels
• Email + SEO likely to outperform by 3-5x per hour

The bottom line: You’re spending 28 hours/month ($2,100) to generate 14 signups worth $171.50/month. That’s a 91.8% loss. Unless social media provides massive indirect value you’re not tracking, you should dramatically reduce time investment and shift to channels with better unit economics.