The best social media for SMEs

There is no platform that is best for every SME: the right choice depends on your audience, your product or service and the type of content you can make. For local and consumer-facing businesses, Instagram and Facebook usually perform best; for B2B service providers and business audiences LinkedIn is usually more effective; and for businesses with a younger audience TikTok can be interesting.

Why the choice differs per business

Every platform has a different group of users, a different content format and a different purpose of use. Choosing a platform because it is popular, without looking at where your audience actually is, often leads to disappointing results. Newcom publishes annual research into the use of social media platforms in the Netherlands, which shows that use differs considerably per age group and type of content. So it is wiser to start from your audience than from the platform.

A platform comparison for SMEs

Instagram: strong for visual and local businesses

Instagram suits businesses that have something visual to show: interiors, fashion, hospitality, beauty, construction and renovation projects. The platform lends itself well to building trust through recognisable content and works strongly in combination with local visibility. You can read more about this on the page about Instagram marketing.

Facebook: still relevant for local audiences

Facebook is sometimes written off as an "old" platform, but it remains valuable for many SMEs, especially for local visibility, building community and reaching an audience slightly older than Instagram's. Facebook Ads also offer fine-grained targeting on location, which is interesting for businesses with a physical location.

LinkedIn: the standard for B2B

For businesses aiming at other entrepreneurs or organisations, such as professional service providers, accountants or installation companies working with construction firms, LinkedIn is often more effective than Instagram or Facebook. Content about expertise, cases and company developments matches the audience's expectations better here than purely visual content.

TikTok: promising but labour-intensive

TikTok can be valuable for businesses with a younger audience or a product that lends itself well to short, catchy videos. Getting started is low-threshold in terms of reach, but the platform does ask for a constant stream of new video content, which takes more time than static posts on other platforms.

Should you be active on several platforms at once?

For most SMEs starting out, it is wiser to begin on one platform and do it well than to become active on three platforms at once with limited capacity. Once that platform delivers results structurally, expanding to a second or third platform can be considered.

That matches how the packages of SocialMediaGroei.nl are built up:

• Zichtbaar (€ 349 per month): up to 2 platforms, ideal for focusing first.
• Groei (€ 599 per month): up to 3 platforms, suitable as soon as you want to scale up.
• Impact (€ 899 per month): up to 4 platforms, for businesses that use social media seriously as a channel for acquisition.

How do you choose the right platform for your business?

Ask yourself the following questions to reach a choice:

1. Where is my audience? Consumers or business clients, young or older.
2. What kind of content can I realistically make? Photos, videos, written updates.
3. What is my goal? Brand awareness, building community or concrete lead generation.
4. How much time or budget do I have available structurally?

A business such as an estate agency, for example, can do well with Instagram for property presentations and Facebook for local visibility, while an accountancy firm will probably get more out of LinkedIn.

A common mistake: starting everywhere at once

A common mistake among SMEs is starting three or four platforms simultaneously, often from the idea that more presence is always better. In practice that often leads to a shallow presence on every platform, because the available time and content are spread over too many channels. It is better to choose the platform where your audience is most active, build a strong, consistent presence there first, and only then look at expanding. That avoids being a little bit present everywhere while never really being visible anywhere.

What if your audience is on several platforms?

It is entirely normal for your audience to be active on several platforms, for example on both Instagram and Facebook. In that case it is not necessarily needed to put the same amount of content on both: content you make for Instagram can often be used on Facebook with small adjustments. That saves time compared with developing content completely separately per platform, and means you are visible in several places without doubling the time investment.

Conclusion

There is no single platform that is the best choice for every SME. Choose based on your audience and the type of content you can realistically produce, start with one platform and only expand once that platform demonstrably delivers results. Still not sure which platform suits your business? Take the social media scan for a first assessment.