Throughout my time working with small business owners, I’ve learned a lot about all the major social media platforms. One thing my clients constantly ask is, “What social media platforms should I be using?”
This is my philosophy — you should spend time on the same social media platforms your target audience spends time on. But if you don’t know which demographics hang out where, it can be tough to decide which profiles to create!
Here’s my breakdown of every major social media platform — who’s using it, what type of content does best, and the pros and cons of signing up.
According to DataReportal, 18.9% of businesses use Instagram for marketing purposes. With over 2.35 billion users worldwide, Instagram is a great social media platform for attracting new clients who want to learn more about what you have to offer.
Audience
The highest percentage of Instagram users are between 18-24, followed closely by users aged 25-34. The 65+ demographic is the lowest, followed by 55-64.
There are users of all ages, but the majority are between 18 and 44. According to Statista, Instagram does have slightly more male users (51.8%) than female users (48.2%), but the difference isn’t much.
What Type of Content Does Best on Instagram?
Regardless of account size, Reels are the best type of content to post on Instagram. This is especially true for users with under 5,000 followers — which includes most small businesses!
According to Rival IQ, however, the number of people you’ll reach when you post an Instagram Story is slowly declining. But, users with 10,000 followers or less are seeing the least decline, while users with 50,000 - 200,000 followers are seeing the highest decline.
To keep your followers engaged with your Instagram Story, post what they want to see.
According to HubSpot, the number one thing to avoid posting on your Instagram Story is a video. And, according to Rival IQ, your followers are 75% more likely to tap out of your story after the sixth slide.
So, what’s the key with stories? Keep them short and interesting.
Should I Use Instagram for My Small Business?
Is Instagram a good platform for small business marketing? Absolutely! You just need to be aware that some types of content will do better than others.
Get to know your audience on Instagram and target your posts to them — make sure to consider your current following and the types of people you want to follow you in the future.
As of 2023, there are almost three billion users active on Facebook — making it the most active social media platform and the most popular platform for businesses, according to DataReportal.
Audience
According to Statista, Facebook’s distribution of users based on age is much more even than Instagram.
The highest percentage of users are between the ages of 25-34, with 18-24 and 35-44 following close behind. Facebook is also much more popular with older demographics than Instagram.
What Type of Content Does Best on Facebook?
Photos and videos are the two best types of content to post on Facebook. Videos tend to perform better than photos, but photo posts are still good for advertising your products.
Another thing you should be taking advantage of on Facebook is Facebook Live. Facebook Live helps you connect with your target audience, giving them a chance to get to know you and your business much better.
One type of post to avoid on Facebook is text posts — they tend to get lost in people’s News Feeds, and in most cases, they don’t really do anything to increase sales or drive traffic to your page.
If you use text posts on your Facebook page, be sure the message is short, important, and to the point.
Should I Use Facebook for My Small Business?
If you want to reach a lot of people, especially in your local area, Facebook is a great place to market your small business. You can even create a private Group to get to know your most loyal clients better, building lasting business relationships!
Facebook also allows you to post a much wider array of content than Instagram. You can post a photo, video, link, or a quick message — all in the same place.
On the other hand, Facebook is famous for spam messages, accounts, and posts, which you’ll need to keep an eye out for. Unlike Instagram, where you can make your business profile private, all your Facebook Business Page posts are public. This can make things tricky if you’re hosting an event at a private location.
Twitter is a great platform for interacting with your client base, getting feedback, and promoting sales or new items.
With only 12% of businesses using Twitter to market, it’s not the best place to focus your attention, but having a presence is still a good idea if you know your clients are using it.
Audience
According to Statista, over 60% of all Twitter users are under 35. If your target audience is mostly younger users, Twitter is a good platform to focus on. But, these numbers don’t exactly make it ideal for cabi Stylists.
Another thing to consider is that nearly 70% of Twitter users are male. There are definitely women on Twitter, but the gap between genders is much larger than on platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
What Type of Content Does Best on Twitter?
If you want to use Twitter to market your small business, you’ll need to focus on something other than promotional content. A few types of content that tend to do better on Twitter than others include:
● Questions and polls
● Industry news and announcements
● Visual content, like photos and videos
While a little bit of promotion is okay, Twitter isn’t as good at driving sales as other platforms. So, it’s better to focus on interacting with and educating your audience than to “sell” to them.
Should I Use Twitter for My Small Business?
Twitter isn’t the primary social media platform you should use as a cabi Stylist, but it can be a good supplemental platform to familiarize yourself with. It all depends on your client base — if they use Twitter, having an account where you can interact with them won’t hurt. But if not, it probably isn’t worth your time.
A Twitter account lets you give your followers information about promotions, sales, and upcoming events. In turn, your followers can ask questions or give you feedback on your products or services.
The main disadvantages of using Twitter both relate to Tweeting. Every Tweet is limited to 280 characters, links included, and unless you’re willing to pay $8 per month for Twitter Blue, you can’t edit Tweets after you send them.
LinkedIn is a little bit different from the other social media platforms we’ve discussed. It’s much more business-oriented, and people aren’t really doing any shopping while they’re logged in.
Audience
Like most social media platforms, LinkedIn is dominated by the under 35 crowd. But, since you won’t be selling your products on LinkedIn, age isn’t as big of a factor as on other sites.
According to Pew Research, women and men are equally represented on LinkedIn in the United States — a great statistic if you want to connect with other female small business owners in your area!
What Type of Content Does Best on LinkedIn?
The best type of content to post on LinkedIn is content that speaks to your story as a small business owner. You can do this through:
● Videos
● Questions and prompts
● Inspiring stories
If you want to connect with other small business owners, you need to find ways to relate to them.
Should I Use LinkedIn for My Small Business?
If you’re going to use LinkedIn for your small business, you’ll need to take a different route than you would with other social media platforms.
Because people turn to LinkedIn to find jobs, connect with others in their industry, and learn new skills, it’s not the place to market your products.
What’s LinkedIn best for? Finding and connecting with other small business owners in your area, building a local community of support, and hopefully, getting some referrals from other trusted businesses!
LinkedIn also offers a wide variety of online courses through LinkedIn Learning. You can get a free one-month trial and sign up for many different courses to learn new skills and help you run your business the best you can.
TikTok
TikTok has taken the world by storm over the past few years. There are now over a billion TikTok accounts worldwide, which has helped some small business owners gain a ton of exposure — the potential to go viral on TikTok is higher than on any other platform.
Audience
TikTok is incredibly popular with the younger crowd. According to Backlinko, nearly 50% of users in the US are under the age of 30. But, the platform is gradually becoming more popular with older crowds as well.
Even though there are creators of all ages on TikTok, the small businesses that see the most success from marketing on this platform usually target a younger crowd.
What Type of Content Does Best on TikTok?
Content related to beauty and fashion tends to do very well on TikTok. Some of the most popular types of fashion-related videos include:
● Different ways to style a piece
● Outfits inspired by characters or eras
● Repurposing an older or outdated piece
If you’re going to use TikTok to market your cabi products, don’t focus too much on the sales aspect of it. Instead, share tips and tricks that have a high chance of going viral!
Should I Use TikTok for My Small Business?
TikTok has a very specific algorithm. Every video you see on your “For You” page is based on:
● The posts you’ve liked in the past
● Creators you’ve followed
● Videos you watched all the way through, or more than once
Because the algorithm is so specific, the people who see your content are the people who are most likely to be interested in it. But, this algorithm is sometimes too specific — leading people to wonder just how much data TikTok is truly collecting on them.
TikTok doesn’t necessarily collect more data than other social media platforms, but they are more brazen about it. For example, you might start seeing videos related to things you’ve searched on your phone, hearing music you recently listened to, and seeing people explore the city you live in!
And, the privacy concerns don’t end here. According to AP News, both the FBI and FCC have been expressing concerns about TikTok for years now, noting that TikTok’s parent company is located in China. Chinese law requires companies to turn personal data over to the government if they consider it relevant to national security.
TikTok has also been in the news lately for talks of banning the app. Federal and state employees in many U.S. states have been banned from downloading the app on government-issued devices and discouraged from downloading it on their personal devices. Some public universities have even banned the app on university-affiliated wireless networks.
Montana recently became the first U.S. state to ban TikTok on all personal devices, and there are ongoing efforts to ban the app in the United States as a whole.
So, while you can still use TikTok for now, it may not be worth your time to invest a lot of energy into an app you may not be able to use in the future.
So, Where Should I Focus My Time Online?
With all the social media platforms out there today, it can be hard to decide which to devote your time to. As far as cabi goes, it’s best to spend your time on Facebook and Instagram.
But, having a LinkedIn presence can help you connect with other small business owners and learn the best techniques to run your company.
Whether or not you want to sign-up for Twitter and TikTok is really up to you. You should always spend time on the platforms your audience is using, so if you know your clients are active on Twitter and TikTok, having an account won’t hurt.
Just make sure you’re getting something out of the profiles you have, and don’t abandon a tried-and-true platform for one your target audience doesn’t really use.