Choosing two platforms and retiring the rest

The most common social media problem in a small business is not posting too little. It is posting a little on too many platforms, so that every account looks abandoned and none of them works.

Why four accounts is worse than one

A prospect checking you out does not think "they are focusing on Instagram". They see a Facebook page whose last post is from 2023 and conclude the business may not still be running. An abandoned account is not neutral. It actively creates doubt.

There is a second cost. Platforms reward consistency, so an account posting twice a month reaches almost nobody, which is demoralising, which leads to posting less. Four accounts on that trajectory is four sources of discouragement.

Choose by where your buyer already is

Not by where you are comfortable, and not by follower count.

Google Business Profile appears in that table twice and is almost always underrated. For a plumber, a nursery or a clinic it produces more enquiries than any social account, and most businesses have never claimed theirs.

The honest test

Look at the last twelve enquiries you received and write down where each one came from. Not where you think they came from. Where they actually did.

Most small businesses discover the answer is word of mouth, Google, and one platform. That one platform is the one to keep.

How to retire an account properly

Deleting is rarely right. Someone will search for you there, and finding nothing is its own signal. Instead:

• Update the bio to say where you are active, with a link.
• Post once saying the same thing, and pin it.
• Make sure the contact details and website link are current.
• Leave it. A tidy dormant account with a clear signpost is fine. An untidy one is not.

What two well run accounts looks like

Twelve posts a month on the primary platform, four on the secondary. Comments and messages answered within a working day, because a missed direct message is a missed customer and they do not chase. A content calendar built around your actual business year rather than whatever occurs to you on the day.

That is genuinely achievable. Four accounts at the same standard is not, for almost anybody, which is why, if you work with us, the first thing we ask is which two you want to keep.

One thing not to measure

Follower count. It is the easiest number to move and the least connected to revenue. If followers went up and enquiries did not, nothing happened. Profile visits, link clicks and messages received are the numbers worth watching, and they are all further down the page in every analytics screen.

A worked example

Take an imaginary two-person garden design business. It has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn, all posted to now and then. The owner writes down where the last twelve enquiries came from:

• Five from recommendations.
• Four from Google, mostly people who found the business on Google Maps.
• Three from Instagram messages, each mentioning a before-and-after photo.
• None from Facebook, X or LinkedIn.

The choice makes itself. Instagram becomes the main platform, because the work is visual and it already produces enquiries. Google Business Profile becomes the second, with a fresh photo each week and a reply to every review. Facebook, X and LinkedIn are retired with a signpost. The owner goes from four half-run accounts to two properly run ones, in roughly the same hours.

Where to find the numbers that matter

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google Business Profile all have free analytics built in. You do not need a paid tool to start.

Platforms can only tell you what happened on the platform. To see who went on to visit your website, add tracking tags to the links in your bio and posts. Google calls these UTM parameters, short for Urchin Tracking Module. A link such as https://www.example.com/?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=bio shows up in Google Analytics as a visit from Instagram. Google's free Campaign URL Builder makes them for you. Use lower case throughout, because Analytics treats "Instagram" and "instagram" as two different sources.

Your first 90 days

1. Week 1. List every account the business has, who can log in, and the date of the last post. Search your business name on each platform in case there is one you have forgotten.
2. Week 1. Give at least two people in the business admin access to every account you keep, and switch on two-step verification. If the only person with access leaves, you can lose control of the account.
3. Week 1. Claim or check your Google Business Profile. Confirm the opening hours, phone number, website and business category.
4. Week 2. Choose your two, then retire the rest as described above.
5. Weeks 3 to 12. Post to plan. Ask every new enquirer how they found you, and keep a running tally in a spreadsheet or notebook.
6. Week 12. Put the monthly numbers next to the tally. Judge the three months together, not one good or bad week.

Three common questions

Can I post the same thing to both?

The same idea, yes. The same post, rarely. A block of hashtags that suits Instagram looks odd on LinkedIn, and a landscape video leaves much of the screen empty on TikTok. Adjust the words and the format for each.

What if my buyers are on a platform I dislike?

Go where they are, and keep your effort there modest. A plain, regular presence on the right platform beats a polished one on the wrong platform.

When should I think about adding a third?

Only once the first two have run to standard for several months and you can see which one produces enquiries. Adding a platform is easy. Keeping it going is the hard part. If you would rather hand that part over, our social media page sets out what we do.

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