“What Social Media Platforms Should my Business be on?”

Business owners and entrepreneurs: You don't have to be on every single social media platform, I promise!

I've been asked, “Do I have to be on Twitter? What about TikTok?!”

Short answer: Only if you want to be! You do have to be on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Facebook and Instagram are essentially two sides of the same coin, with one audience skewing older (Facebook) and the other, younger (Instagram). LinkedIn is like their professional cousin who's always in a business suit, so assume your audience there is full of professional versions of the people on Facebook and Instagram.

For these three platforms, there's not really much nuance and personality. Of course, your business can have a personality when you post. In fact, it should have its own distinct presence. What I mean is that there are no real social rules you need to be privy to. Whereas with TikTok and Twitter you have to know what's trending, “get” inside jokes, etc. There's a lot more to it. You have to really understand the personality of those platforms.

If you don't love platforms like TikTok then don't do it. Because the audience knows when you don’t love it. If you're doing a dance with a trending sound from like a year ago and your eyes are staring blanking into the camera, we, the audience, can pick up on that you don't really want to be doing it. And that's fine! You don't have to want to be doing it.

Some companies thrive on these other platforms. Others really don’t. It just depends on where they find their niche. So, stick with Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. It's most important that you're being authentic to your brand and your business. You don’t have to be everywhere all the time. What you post is an entirely different thing, but where you post it matters. It has to be authentic to you.