Do I really need social media?
A one-minute answer, a plain-English fix, and one thing you can do today — pick how you'd like to take it in below.
Not necessarily. If your customers aren't on social media, you don't need to be either. But you do need to be somewhere findable — Google, email, word of mouth, a great website. Social media is one option, not the only one.
The social-media pressure on small businesses is enormous — and often wasted. A trades business selling to homeowners might do far better on Google Business Profile than on TikTok. Every hour spent on the wrong channel is an hour not spent on the right one. Doing nothing on Instagram isn't laziness. It's focus.
A retired accountant took over a farm supply store in the King Country. He was told he "had to" be on Instagram. He tried for six months — five followers, all family. Meanwhile, a handwritten sign at the shop door said "Sold out again — call to reserve." That was the whole story. His customers weren't on Instagram. They were farmers who checked the local WhatsApp group at 6am. Different customer, different channel. He deleted the Instagram account and slept better.
Ask where your customers actually spend time online
Not what social media they "like" — where they honestly spend time. It might be a group chat, a Facebook group, a Reddit thread, a WhatsApp community, or nothing at all. Follow the honest answer, even if it's boring.
Pick ONE channel — not five
One channel done well beats five done badly. Choose the one your customers actually use, and let the others rest.
Match the channel to the customer
Customers 40+ tend to hang out on Facebook and read Google reviews. Customers 18-30 lean towards Instagram or TikTok. B2B customers live on LinkedIn or in email newsletters. If yours barely use social at all — put every hour into Google Business Profile and your website instead.
Delete or hide the accounts you'll never use
A ghost Instagram account with two posts from 2022 makes you look worse than having no Instagram at all. Delete it or hide it. Free yourself.
Ask five customers where they spend time online.
Not "which social media do you use" — that's a leading question. Ask: "Where do you actually spend time online in the evenings?" Follow the honest answer. If four out of five say Facebook — that's your channel, not Instagram.
- Social media isn't compulsory.
- Pick one channel where your customers actually are.
- Being brilliant on one beats being average on five.
- Google, email, and word of mouth are still real marketing.
Say you have a website. It's live. But no one's enquiring. What now? That's Topic 07.
Topic 07 — My website isn't getting enquiries.