Module 05 of 10
Social media for local businesses
Social media done well keeps your business top of mind with existing customers and introduces you to new ones. Done badly — or spread too thin — it burns time with minimal return. The key decisions are which platform to focus on, and what to post.
One platform done well beats four done poorly
The single most common social media mistake small business owners make is spreading across every platform. A Facebook page, an Instagram, a TikTok, and a LinkedIn that all see sporadic activity creates the impression of an inactive business — which is worse than having no presence on most of them.
Pick the platform where your customers actually are, and maintain it consistently. Consistent and present on one platform outperforms occasionally active on four, every time.
THE BURNOUT CYCLE
Most small business owners post intensely for two to three weeks, then go quiet for months. Customers notice the gap and assume the business is slow or struggling. A schedule you can sustain — even just twice a week — is worth far more than a sprint followed by silence.
Platform guide - select each to see the details
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The most used platform by small business owners and their customers over 30. Strong for community groups, local events, and discovery. A Facebook Business Page is also indexed — people search for businesses directly on Facebook before they search Google.
Best content: events, community updates, behind-the-scenes, promotions, customer stories. Frequency: 3–4 times per week.
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Strongest for food, retail, fitness, beauty, home décor, and events — any business where the product or experience is visually compelling. Reels (short videos) now get significantly more reach than static photos. If you're willing to make short videos, Instagram's upside is high.
Best content: product shots, before/after, Reels showing process or personality, customer features. Frequency: 4–5 times per week for growth, 2–3 to maintain.
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For consultants, accountants, attorneys, and service businesses whose clients are other businesses or professionals. LinkedIn is where B2B referrals begin. Less useful for consumer-facing local businesses — a restaurant or salon has little to gain here.
Best content: insights, client results (anonymized), local business commentary, industry expertise. Frequency: 2–3 times per week.
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Massive reach potential for the right content — especially food, retail, and "satisfying process" content. But requires consistent short video production. Don't start here unless you genuinely enjoy making videos and can commit to at least 5 per week. Starting and abandoning is worse than never starting.
Best content: process videos, day-in-the-life, behind-the-scenes, humor. Frequency: 5–7 times per week for meaningful reach.
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Minimal value for most local small businesses. The audience skews toward media, tech, and national brands — not where local customers discover and choose local services. Invest that time in GBP and Facebook instead. The exception is owners who enjoy community commentary and want to build personal brand, but even then it's rarely a direct customer-acquisition channel.
In this Module
One platform focus
Platform guide
The 70/20/10 mix
Real-world examples
Related Modules
Email marketing
Online advertising
Brand identity
What to post — the 70/20/10 mix
70%
Value and community
Content that helps, entertains, or connects — not selling. Tips, behind-the-scenes, staff, local community, seasonal content.
20%
Soft promotion
Showcasing your work without a hard sell. Before/afters, new arrivals, customer testimonials, "how we do it" posts.
10%
Direct offers
Promotions, limited-time offers, direct calls to action. Keep this low — post too many offers and your audience tunes out.
Real-world examples
Ridge Line Roofing — Facebook community groups
Instead of only posting on his business page, the owner started answering roofing questions in three local homeowner Facebook groups — genuinely helpful, never promotional. Within 90 days, four homeowners from those groups had called him for quotes. All cited the groups as how they found him. Zero ad spend.
The Flour Shop Bakery — Instagram Reels
Started posting 30-second videos of bread being shaped and pulled from the oven. First Reel got 4,000 views (mostly locals). Saturday morning pre-orders — previously sporadic — now sell out by Thursday every week. Owner says the phone calls now open with "I saw your video."