The best social media for your business

Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn… It all feels a bit overwhelming doesn’t it?

At least once a week tourism business owners ask me which social media channel works best, or ‘Do I really have to try to do them all?’, and ‘If I’ve only got time for one, which should I choose?’

It really depends on what you’re trying to do and who your target markets are, but there is one social media channel that works best for most tourism businesses. I’ll get to that in a moment.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the social media channels available, it’s really worth focusing on just one, and then once you’re really comfortable with that channel, perhaps expand your activity. Two things worth bearing in mind though:

1. there’s no point in persevering with X/Twitter (or your other favourite channel) if none of your target markets are on there (and channels change);

2. don’t choose a channel you absolutely hate if you think that means you’ll just avoid doing anything…

If you’re trying to focus on one social media channel, you need to be clear:

• which channels your target markets are most likely to use

• whether you want to raise awareness of your business, or generate direct bookings, build loyalty or target a certain kind of visitor

For example, TikTok tends to attract younger visitors, and can be good for activity providers, food & drink businesses and experience providers. LinkedIn is aimed at professionals so can be good for building corporate relationships.

The audience for x/Twitter has definitely declined and has never been great for sending much traffic to websites. However, many travel journalists have stayed on twitter and still use it for call-outs for information so it can be good for finding PR opportunities, but not for attracting bookings.

This basically leaves you with two strong channels for tourism businesses: Instagram and Facebook.

Instagram followers tend to be younger than on facebook. Facebook has more followers. Instagram is very much image-led so you need some decent photography and, ideally videos too. Instagram can be excellent for building awareness and attracting newer visitors but it doesn’t always result in direct bookings. Facebook is generally (depends on usage, business type etc) better for driving traffic to websites and for building loyalty.

If I had to choose the channel that is most effective for the most tourism businesses, then I’d currently choose Facebook. You may have to work harder to build engagement and followers but if you use the right techniques, Facebook still works very well.

If you’re like some advice on how to build followers and engagement on Facebook, you might like to join this online workshop.