A small business cannot maintain five platforms and does not need to. Pick the one where your customers already are and where your work is easiest to show, do it consistently, and retire the rest. An abandoned profile with a post from two years ago is worse than no profile at all.
The problem with being everywhere
The usual pattern is accounts created on five platforms during a burst of enthusiasm, four of which are abandoned within three months.
Those dormant accounts are not neutral. They rank for your business name, so someone checking you out finds a profile whose last activity was in 2023 and reasonably wonders whether the business is still operating. It also splits whatever effort exists across places nobody is watching.
One account, posted to consistently, does more for a small business than five updated occasionally.
Which one
Three questions settle it, and the answer differs by trade.
Where are your customers already
Not where you are, and not where the coverage says the audience is. For most local trades serving homeowners, the platform carrying local community groups is where the relevant conversation happens, because that is where people ask neighbours for recommendations.
For businesses selling to other businesses, the professional network is usually more relevant. For anything strongly visual, a photo-led platform.
Does your work photograph well
Landscaping, painting, renovations, flooring, and detailing produce obvious before and after material. Plumbing repairs inside a wall do not. If the work does not show well in a picture, a visual platform is a poor fit no matter how large its audience.
Can you sustain it
The honest constraint. A platform that needs daily video is not viable for a two-person business with a full schedule, and choosing it anyway produces the abandoned account described above.
What social media actually does for a local business
Worth being realistic, because expectations are where most disappointment comes from.
It is rarely a source of new enquiries at volume. What it does well is confirm you are active and real to someone who already has your name, provide a place where local recommendations can point, and keep you visible to past customers who might need you again or refer you.
That is a supporting role rather than a lead source, and judged that way it is worth modest effort. Judged as a channel that should produce enquiries directly, it disappoints almost every trades business that tries it.
A sustainable rhythm
- Photograph every completed job, as a standing habit rather than when someone remembers. This solves the what-to-post problem permanently.
- Post weekly or fortnightly, not daily. Consistency at a pace you can hold beats a burst.
- Write four at once from work already done, and schedule them. Fifteen minutes a month covers it.
- Reply to comments and messages, which matters more than posting. An unanswered message on a business page is visible to everyone.
- Participate locally rather than only broadcasting. Answering a question in a community group does more than ten posts on your own page.
Retiring the others
Do not simply abandon them, which is what produces the stale profiles.
Either delete the account, or leave a final post saying where to find you and update the profile to point at your website and phone number. A dormant profile that at least sends people somewhere useful is a reasonable outcome. One that trails off mid-2023 is not.
Keep the usernames if you can, even on platforms you do not use, so nobody else takes your business name.
The thing that matters more than the platform
Whatever you post belongs on your own website too.
A platform account is borrowed ground. The rules change, reach changes, and accounts get restricted for reasons nobody explains. Photographs of your work, customer feedback, and the material you produce should live on a site you control, with the platform pointing at it rather than being the only place it exists.
That single discipline turns social effort into something that accumulates rather than something that disappears when a platform changes its mind.
Frequently asked questions
How many social media platforms should a small business use?
One, done consistently. Five accounts updated occasionally produce four dormant profiles that rank for your business name and suggest the business may have closed.
Which platform suits a trades business?
Usually whichever carries active local community groups, since that is where neighbours ask for recommendations. Visual platforms suit work that photographs well, and professional networks suit business-to-business services.
Does social media produce enquiries for a local business?
Rarely at volume. It confirms you are active and real to someone who already has your name, gives local recommendations somewhere to point, and keeps you visible to past customers.
How often should I post?
Weekly or fortnightly is sustainable for most small businesses. Photograph every completed job as a habit, write several posts at once, and schedule them.
What should I do with accounts I no longer use?
Either delete them or leave a final post pointing to your website and phone number, and update the profile details. Keep the usernames so nobody else takes your business name.
Should content live on social media or my website?
Your website, with the platform pointing at it. Platform accounts are borrowed ground where rules and reach change, while material on your own site accumulates.
West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.
Four half-used profiles and no time for any of them?
We help you pick the one worth keeping, set a rhythm you can sustain, and make sure the work lives on your own site.
Start a Conversation