Which Social Networks Should a Small Business Actually Use?
Bizer · 2026-10-01
One or two, chosen by where your customers already are, done well. Not five done badly.
The question of whether to be on social media at all is mostly settled. People check a business online before they call it, and a dead or missing profile costs you trust. The real question is how many, and the answer for a business with fewer than ten people is fewer than you think.
Where are people, as of 2025?
The Pew Research Center's 2025 survey, fielded February to June 2025 and published that November, found the share of US adults who use each platform:
- YouTube: 84%
- Facebook: 71%
- Instagram: 50%
- TikTok: 37%
- WhatsApp: 32%
- Reddit: 26%
- Snapchat: 25%
- X: 21%
Pew also found about half of adults visit Facebook and YouTube daily. Those numbers describe all adults. Your customers are a slice, and the slice matters more than the total.
How do I pick?
Answer three questions honestly.
Who buys from you? A plumber's customers are homeowners, often over 40. A bakery's are everyone. An accountant's are other business owners. A tattoo shop's skew younger.
What does your work look like? If the result is visual, food, hair, landscaping, renovations, a photo or short video sells it. If the result is invisible, bookkeeping, insurance, legal work, you sell trust and expertise, which means writing and answering questions.
What can you keep up? Video takes more time than photos, which take more than text. A platform you abandon after a month is worse than none, because the last post becomes the impression.
What fits which business?
My recommendations, for a typical US small business in 2026:
- Facebook, almost always. Largest reach after YouTube, strong with adults over 35, and where local groups trade recommendations. If you pick one, pick this. Setup is covered in Facebook Page or personal profile.
- Instagram, if your work is visual. Restaurants, salons, boutiques, contractors with good before and after shots. It connects to your Facebook Page, so posting to both from Meta Business Suite costs little extra.
- Nextdoor, for home services and neighborhood businesses. As of September 2026, Nextdoor offers free business pages, and neighbors recommend contractors there constantly. Claim yours even if you rarely post.
- LinkedIn, if you sell to other businesses. Accountants, IT shops, commercial cleaners, consultants. Post as yourself, not only as the company page.
- YouTube, if you can explain things. A mechanic showing what a worn brake pad looks like, a pool company showing how to read a test strip. Videos keep getting found for years, which almost nothing else on this list does.
- TikTok, if you or someone on staff enjoys making short video. It can work very well for food, retail, and personalities. It eats time, and a business that forces it shows.
What most local businesses can skip: X, Snapchat, Threads, and Pinterest, unless your customers are clearly there. Pinterest is the exception for weddings, home decor, and crafts.
Should I still claim my name everywhere?
Yes. Spend one afternoon registering your business name on every major platform, even the ones you will not use, and put a one-line bio with your website and phone number. It costs nothing, it stops someone else from taking the name, and it means a customer who looks for you on the wrong platform still finds the right phone number. Then leave those accounts quiet.
What does running two platforms really cost?
Plan on two to four hours a week for two platforms, including answering messages, if you use photos and short text. Add more for video. If that time comes out of your evenings, count it. If you pay someone, a part-time social media helper is a real line item, and you should know what you expect it to produce. How to set social media goals covers that part.
What is uncertain?
Platforms rise and fall faster than most small businesses change. Pew's own data shows TikTok and Instagram growing over the past four years while Facebook held steady. Five years from now the list may look different. The method will not. Go where your customers already are, and move only when they do.
The other uncertainty is your own market. National averages hide local habits. Ask your last twenty customers how they found you and where they would look for you. That beats any survey.
