‘Can I use my personal social media account for my business?’ It’s one of the most common questions we’re asked when working with small business owners.
In this blog, we answer that question and explain how you can leverage the tools and features provided by social media platforms to promote and sell your brand.
Start with a social media strategy
For fledgling businesses and start-ups, a considered, evidence-driven social media strategy is key to success. It can grow awareness, drive sales and build a loyal following for your brand.
Many underestimate the time and effort involved in developing a successful social media strategy. The social media landscape is complex and continuously evolving, and for many, trying to determine the right social media approach for your business can be overwhelming. Even for digital natives, what works on a personal level may not be a good fit business-wise.
To develop a strategy that works for your business, start with the basics:
- What you are trying to achieve through your social content
- Which platforms are home to your target markets
- Which platforms align with your brand and your content
- How you’re going to resource your social content.
Choose the right platform for your business
Once you’ve worked out your goals and which platforms align with your brand, the content you’ll be producing and your target markets, you’re in a good position to choose the social media platform that will work for you. Below is a summary of some of the players:
- ~3.1 billion active users
- Popular with 25 – 34 year olds and Boomers (those born in the mid-50s and 60s)
- Great for photos, live video, and text-based content
- Useful for local marketing, advertising and relationship building
- Downside: Has weak organic reach
YouTube
- ~2.5 billion active users
- Popular with 18 – 35 year olds
- Video content only
- Great for ‘How to’ content, webinars and explainers
- Downside: Video is resource heavy
- ~2 billion active users
- Popular with 18 – 35 year olds and millenials
- Image-based content only
- Great for inspirational content and eCommerce
- Downside: High ad costs
X
- ~611 million active users
- Popular with 25 – 49 year olds, typically educated and wealthy
- Good for news, discussion and humour
- Downside: Small ad audience and decreasing popularity
- ~1 billion active users
- Popular with 46 – 55 year olds, typically professionals
- Good for long-form content
- Useful for B2B marketing
- Downside: Limitations with ad reporting and custom audience
TikTok
- ~1.6 billion active users
- Popular with 10 – 19 year olds, typically female
- Good for entertainment, humour and influencer content
- Downside: Not great for relationship building
- ~498 million active users
- Popular with 18 – 34 year olds
- Great for image-led, aspirational content
- Downside: Limitations with scheduling and can take longer than other platforms to deliver results
Snapchat
- ~800 million active users
- Popular with 13 – 17 and 25 – 24 year olds
- Good for feel good content and trends
Downside: As with TikTok, not great for relationship building.
Create your social media presence
You’ve selected the social media platform that’s right for you and your business. Now it’s time to establish your presence.
Many, if not most, people starting a business already have a personal presence on social media. Understandably, many small business owners choose to use their existing personal social media presence for their business – particularly because in most cases, they ARE the business. Others, either knowingly or unknowingly, choose to set up their business on social media using a personal account. While using a personal account for your business can and does work, it has its limitations – particularly if you have ambitions to grow and expand.
To better understand these limitations, let’s take a look at some of the major social media platforms and their personal and business offerings.
Individuals on LinkedIn are represented by ‘Member profiles’. Organisations are represented on LinkedIn by a ‘LinkedIn Page’. To set up a LinkedIn page, you must have a personal profile.
What’s the difference between the two? Each offers slightly different functionality. Importantly for businesses, only a LinkedIn page provides the ability to run paid ads. Advertising is not possible using a personal page (member profile).
For business wanting to grow their reach and engagement, a LinkedIn page, with the valuable marketing tools it provides, enables you to amplify your brand and messaging to a targeted audience.
Member Profile | LinkedIn Page |
Used by individuals | Used by businesses |
Content includes: Activity, Experience, Skills and Endorsements, Recommendations and Interests. | Content includes: Overview, About, Jobs and People |
Has ‘Connections’ | Has ‘Followers’ |
Cannot run ads | Can run ads |
Free | Free |
Like LinkedIn, individuals on Facebook are represented by Facebook Profiles, while businesses are represented by Facebook Pages.
Historically, Facebook encouraged businesses to use Facebook Pages rather than personal profiles for commercial activity. Today, individuals can enable Professional Mode on their personal profile, allowing them to build a public audience, access professional tools and monetisation opportunities, and promote content while leveraging their existing network. Businesses that require a separate brand identity, multiple administrators or advanced advertising capabilities should still maintain a Facebook Business Page.
Feature | Facebook Profile (Professional Mode) | Facebook Business Page |
Best for | Personal brands, consultants, coaches, freelancers, solo business owners | Established businesses, organisations, brands, teams |
Audience | Existing personal network plus public followers | Followers of the business brand |
Boost posts | Yes | Yes |
Run advertising campaigns | Limited boosting options | Full Meta Ads Manager capabilities |
Monetisation | Available for eligible creators | Limited creator monetisation features |
Multiple administrators | No | Yes |
Business management features | Basic | Advanced |
Recommended when | Building a personal brand and leveraging existing contacts | Building a standalone business presence |
Instagram also offers a choice between personal and business accounts. Instagram’s Business accounts provide a range of features designed to support businesses in reaching and engaging their audiences including:
- Instagram ads
- Instagram shopping
- Automated customer support
- Insights and analytics
While a great option for business, it is worth noting some of the limitations of a Business account in Instagram:
- Limited organic reach – Instagram’s algorithm favours personal accounts over business accounts
- Restrictions on posting formats – Business accounts allow only photo or video content and are limited to certain aspect ratios and sizes. You cannot post GIFs to a business account.
- Limited link options – Business accounts are limited to one clickable link in the profile. Many businesses get around this by using a ‘link in bio’ solution, such as Linktree.
Personal account | Business account |
Used by individuals | Used by businesses |
Profile contains bio and personal information only | You can add a call-to-action button to your profile |
It’s not possible to create ‘shoppable’ posts. | You can create ‘shoppable’ posts |
No access to insights or analytics | Access to insights and analytics |
Cannot run paid ads | Can run paid ads |
No access to Creator Studio | Access to Creator Studio |
No access to automation | Access to automated AI chatbots |
Build and grow your audience
Social media is an essential tool in the content marketing toolkit, and for businesses wanting to build and grow their audience, a business account on social media is almost always the best option.
If you’re new to the content marketing space, the Content Marketing Institute has a great explainer and some useful ‘how to’ information.
Need help with a small business content marketing strategy? Contact us today