Which social media platform works best for my business?

Let’s talk about your small business.

I spoke with a client this week who said: ‘It’s ok for you - you’re lucky. You’ve got over 73,000 Facebook followers.’

My initial response was to smile and agree.

Yep. Wasn’t I lucky?

But then I remember that I started with zero.

It may be the same with you and your small business.

But Facebook may not be where you need to be.

It may be the case that you’re posting to every social media channel you can think of in the hope that one might stick.

But there’s no methodical strategy to that.

You’re just wasting your time and energy.

But there’s a smarter way of making social media work for your small business.

And it requires some discipline, some patience, and some testing.

Here’s what I would do if I was starting out with my small business now:

#1 Define your goal first

Where do you want to be in 12 months’ time? What specific milestones do you want to achieve? 

These are important considerations. When you drive somewhere new, you pop the destination into your satnav, right? It then works out the best direction for you.

It’s the same with your small business. Start 12 months from now, decide where you want to be, and then reverse engineer everything back to now.

This is a technique I used when I ghostwrite books for CEOs and celebrities. I actually write the final chapter first and then work my way back to the start.

#2 Do your research on options

Save time long-term by doing some work up-front.

There are clearly some big hitters when it comes to social media but by weeding out the ones that are no good to you will save you time and stress down the line.

If most of your clients are likely to be situated geographically local, you may not want to use a social media platform that’s more designed for global reach.

Is your business B2B (Business to Business) or B2C (Business to Customer)? If you’re selling products or services to businesses, you may want to focus on LinkedIn, where more of the decision makers hang out.

If you’re a local photographer, you may want to invest time in platforms like Facebook and/or Instagram, which offer a more visual way of reaching people in your area.

Pro Tip: Find out where your audience hangs out online. That’ll be a good clue as to where you need to focus.

#3 Be realistic about your resources

One of the hardest things about running your small business is that you have to do everything yourself.

You wear so many hats - one minute you’re working on accounts, the next you’re trying to design a website; then you’re trying to run your socials and then you might even get around to doing the job you’re actually supposed to be doing.

Certain social media platforms require specific skillsets - video editing for TikTok, working with imagery on Instagram. If you are happier just working with text, consider platforms like Threads or X.

Assess what resources (and that includes time) are available to you and be realistic about what you think you can maintain consistently. It’s been proven that it’s the consistency that compounds over time so if your resources are likely to be stretched, focus that time and energy on achieving one thing consistently.

#4 Choose one primary platform to test

Here’s the good news - you don’t need to go posting to every social media platform.

Make life easier for yourself by choosing one primary platform and giving it a consistent bit of welly (what we here in the UK say, meaning “give it some work!”).

Testing one primary platform gives you the space and time to devote serious attention.

#5 Give it three months minimum - and track your results

This is the hardest bit - giving it time.

Have you ever boiled an egg?

You put the egg in the pan of water and turn on the heat.

What happens within the first minute?

Absolutely nothing.

But the heat is on full blast.

Yet the egg just sits there, in the water, gently bobbing around if you’re lucky.

That’s because it takes time for the water to heat.

It requires consistent heat over a period of time that compounds until finally, it all starts to come together. The water boils, the egg cooks.

It doesn’t happen in the first minute. But you have to give it those first few minutes to get up to speed.

Give the one social platform that you have chosen 3 months before assessing whether it’s had any impact.

And remember, the real test is whether you are getting leads and/or clients.

Forget chasing likes and shares. Those are just vanity metrics.

If you’re getting leads, it’s worth sticking with.

If you’re not, maybe it’s time to go back to Step One and start the process with another platform. If it’s not working for you within three months, switch to another. If you have to, you could spend one year testing out four platforms but once you’ve found it, you don’t need to ever worry about the other platforms again.

You’ll have found your place.