Social media

Social media platforms allow you to publish (or "post") content to promote your business and interact with your customers.

Not every social media platform is right for every business. It’s important to consider which channels align with your target audience and marketing strategy, as well as how you will maintain a consistent social media presence. An active social media presence is one of the most effective ways to build a relationship with customers and potential customers. It’s not enough to simply set up your profile and leave it unattended.

The features of each platform and the types of content you can post can feel overwhelming when you’re starting out, so here are some tips to help you find the right social media solutions for your business.

Find the platforms your target market is using

Once you have identified your target market, your social media efforts will be most effective if you engage with them on their preferred platforms using relevant and useful content.

Your customers are more likely to see posts on the platforms they use most often, and to read, share, like and comment on content that interests them. Depending on the platform, your content can include text, photo, images, videos and audio.

Tip: You don’t need to be everywhere

There are so many different social media platforms to choose from – but don’t feel like you need to be on all of them. It’s better to direct your time and effort towards creating and maintaining a strong presence on one or two platforms that your target audience is most likely to be using.

Popular social media platforms

Depending on your target audience, some key platforms to explore for your business include:

Instagram – A visual platform where you can post images and videos. It also offers paid advertising options to help you reach a wider audience.
Facebook – You can create a business page, share content, participate in groups and use paid advertising to reach targeted audiences.
TikTok – A short form video platform that is particularly popular with a younger demographic.
LinkedIn – A professional networking platform, typically used for business to business (B2B) marketing. You can create personal and business pages, share updates, publish articles and engage in discussion groups.
YouTube – A video sharing platform that can be used to showcase your expertise, share educational content and build an audience over time, particularly if you have the resources to regularly generate professional video content.

Other social media channels such as Pinterest, WhatsApp, Snapchat, X (formerly known as Twitter) and Tumblr can also be explored as options for your digital marketing.

Finding the right social media channels for your business

It might take some time to find the right social media platforms that work best for your business. Here are some tips to help you get started:

Choose one platform to explore based on where your target market is likely to be online.
Use that platform to search for businesses that are similar to yours. For example, if you own a hairdressing business, you may share a similar target audience with beauty or nail salons.
Look for businesses with at least a few thousand followers who publish content regularly basis (at least two to three times per week).
Browse their profiles to identify the types of content their audience is engaging with (posts that get a lot of likes, shares and comments).
Make note of the types of content you find – for example, educational, problem solving, entertaining or news-focused.

Repeat this process for several business pages to find popular topics or themes for your industry. This will help you work out which platform and content types might work best for your business, and how you could take your own fresh approach to suit your brand.

Use social media to build customer relationships

Social media is about listening to and engaging with your audience, not constantly selling your products or services to them. Make sure that you:

Post information which is useful to your customers and encourage them to share their experience with your business on their own social media channels.
Respond to customer comments and direct messages in a timely manner.
Use the scheduling tools available on most social media platforms to help you plan, organise and publish content in advance.

Social media content ideas

Experimenting with different types of content can help you identify what resonates most with your audience. You could:

Create your own content including written posts, images, infographics or videos.
Comment on relevant content you’ve found elsewhere, sharing your views on a popular topic. • Use a quote from an industry-relevant article and then express your view or standpoint.
Provide a link to relevant content on your own website.
Share content created by someone else (make sure you have their permission and/or credit them for their work).
Share ‘behind the scenes’ content to show some aspects of your business such as how your products are packaged or your order filling process.

Think about the questions you are often asked about your products or services, or feedback you receive from your customers. The conversations you have in your business with customers, suppliers or staff could provide inspiration for social media content that you hadn’t considered.

Tip: Feedback through social media

Social media allows you to communicate directly with potential and existing customers. It also gives customers the opportunity to share feedback about your business with their own networks. Depending on the kind of review, it can be great for business or damaging to your reputation. Read our tips on handling online reviews.

Content creation tools and resources

There are many free and low cost tools available to help you create content for your website, social media channels and other marketing activities.

SBDC workshops

We offer a range of low cost, sales and marketing skills workshops. These workshops are packed with practical information and useful hints and tips to help you understand and make the most of social media marketing in your business.

Graphic design tools

Online graphic design tools, such as Canva, can make it easy for you to develop graphics and videos for your website and social media.

Explore online tools for your business.

Google tools

Google offers a range of useful tools to plan and measure your social media activities, such as:

Google’s Keyword Planner provides insights into the words and phrases people are searching for, helping you identify topics and content ideas that are relevant to your audience.
Google search suggestions (autocomplete) can be used to explore what users are searching for. By typing a topic into the Google search bar, you’ll see a list of auto suggestions based on what’s popular for that topic.
Google Search Console provides insights into how visitors find your website, including the search terms people use before clicking through to your site.