Manage your social media accounts

All social media channels are different, so your approach to each of them should be different as well. With each channel, think about a tailored approach and content plan.

Who will see your content?

You may reach different people with different types of content, so you need to customise your approach.

For example:

Your general “feed” on a platform could be seen by both your followers and non-followers.

Imagine seeing an image or video from your business for the first time. The customer doesn’t know anything about you – they don’t know what you do, or if you’re suitable or interesting to them.

Contrast this with your “stories” on a platform such as Instagram or Facebook.

Stories are more likely to be seen by your existing followers. These are people who know who you are and have chosen to be kept updated on what you’re up to. They are more likely to engage with a sticker, or vote in a poll.

They know all the basic information about you. So what else can you share with them that they’ll find interesting and will keep them engaged?

You need to think about creating content for:

• A cold audience – who you are and what you’re about in a simple and easy-to-digest way, as a stand alone message.
• A warm audience – such as behind the scenes or a day in the life of you or your staff.

Social media calendars

A social media calendar is a plan of what you will post and when on each of your social media platforms.

Using a calendar makes it easier for you to ensure you're posting consistently and sharing a variety of different messages and types of content. The calendar is easily shareable so staff can see what's planned, and allows you to easily delegate the day-to-day task of posting and moderating content.

There are many social media calendars available for free online.

How to plan your activity

• Review your analytics before each planning session to see what worked and what you should change.
• Have a set time for planning your schedule each month.
• Prepare the copy and images for each post as well.

Why is social media important?

You can see why social media is important by understanding the customer journey of planning and booking a holiday.

Customers generally go through three stages:

• inspiration
• deciding
• planning and booking.

Although there are three stages overall, these stages do not always happen in chronological order. A customer might be researching holiday ideas and decide on a trip, but then go back to the research stage for a detailed itinerary. This could mean they book their accommodation or flights, but still need to decide what to do each day. Some customers are still looking for ideas even once they get to Scotland.

Social media has long been a place for inspiration, whether it’s getting ideas from images of trips taken by friends and family, or videos shared by an influencer you follow.

But social media is now used for much more – many customers now use it to search for things, as well as or instead of using search engines.

This means it is more important than ever that your business has a presence on the key social channels and that you look to post consistently and engage with customers online.

Why can social media be useful to customers?

• inspiration and ideas, including for unique places or those off-the-beaten track
• reviews and recommendations from people who have visited
• gives a clear idea of what it’s like to visit a place before they arrive
• ask questions
• make bookings or purchases
• leave their own feedback

How can social media be useful to your business?

There are many goals to use your social media channel for, including to:

• inspire potential customers to think about booking
• take enquiries from customers thinking about booking
• share images with customers who have visited
• take reviews from customers who have visited
• networking and building business relationships

Check out Business Gateway's  guidance on advertising and selling products on social platforms.

What social media platforms are most used?

Over the past years, there has been a decline in the use of X (formerly Twitter), the pace of growth of Facebook has slowed, and we’ve seen an increase in newer platforms like Threads and Bluesky.

Meanwhile Instagram and TikTok are growing extensively as attention switches from text to images and video.

LinkedIn remains popular in the business community with over a billion users. Although this is not a social platform that you can use to engage customers, it's useful for making connections in the industry. 

Should I set up a business account?

Most social media platforms recommend using a business profile instead of a personal account.

The benefits of using a business account include:

• real-time insights on the content you’re posting
• share clear contact information
• sell directly through your social media account
• manage customer conversations easily
• paid advertising opportunities

Scheduling and moderation

Social media scheduling is a way to help you organise and post your social content across multiple social media accounts and platforms in advance. 

Moderating your accounts allows you to engage with your followers and build a sense of community. This includes sharing their images and posts (where permission allows) and generally acknowledging feedback and reviews.

There are free tools within each platform for scheduling and moderation, which are the best option for a small business.

You can find more information on:

• how to schedule Facebook and Instagram content
• how to schedule videos on TikTok
• using TikTok Studio to create and manage content
• how to schedule posts on X