4 Social media platforms to boost your brand’s success
We’ll answer your questions about the ‘Big 4’ of social media platforms.
4 Social media platforms to boost your brand’s success
Love it or loathe it, social media isn’t going anywhere when it comes to promoting your products or services. It has the potential to create new opportunities in both your local area and further afield. In 2025, Sprout Social reported that “81% of consumers are swayed by social media to make spontaneous purchases multiple times a year”.
With this in mind, we wanted to highlight four major social media platforms that have the potential to boost your business’s visibility, authority, enquiries and sales. After all, these aren’t bad returns when you consider the low cost of admission to post organic content.
The origins of Facebook
One of the old guard of social media networks, ThoughtCo notes that this bastion of platforms was launched in 2004 when its founders were still studying at Harvard. Initially intended to help this Ivy League college’s students connect, they soon dropped its original name of ‘TheFacebook’ a year after it went live.
A wealth of features
Beloved by consumers as well as businesses, Facebook offers your business the opportunity to create a page, host a group, go live, advertise events and of course, post text, image and video-based content. And if that doesn’t keep you busy, you can publish these three things:
- Carousels: ‘slideshows’ to promote products, give tips and so on
- Stories: limited-time (15 seconds) that followers can see for 24 hours
- Reels: longer than stories (90 seconds maximum), these videos intend to help your business extend its reach and gain new followers.
Whenever a new product launches, behind-the-scenes news happens, or you want to share your team or value-packed content, Facebook is your go-to social media giant. Did we mention that eligible businesses can open a Facebook Shop, also harnessing ads and organic content to promote their offering?
Who uses Facebook?
With over 3 billion (yes, that’s billion) users logging on per month, according to a 2025 Hootsuite article, this social media network is one of the leaders of the ‘big four’ social media platforms discussed within this blog. Also, 42% of its account holders belong to the 25-34 year-old demographic (SQ Magazine), meaning that families and young professionals spend time there and can therefore be reached by your company with effective infographics, videography and photography.
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Does Facebook offer a favourable ROI?
Absolutely! More than 9 in 10 organisations use this popular social site to engage and promote their offers, with paid Facebook ads offering a 9.21% conversion rate (cropink). That is why you will find 25 million small business pages there, according to Simply Business. Are you ready to join them?
A brief history of Instagram
Going from strength to strength is a phrase that is frequently overused. However, when 25,000 people joined this now well-known social media site within its first day of operation in October 2010, observers knew it had potential. Going on to be bought by Facebook for $1 billion a mere two years later, account holders fell in love with the aesthetic filters and Instagram’s focus on mobile-uploaded photos.
Viva la visuals
Starting with users’ personal snapshots, ‘Insta’ has since added Direct Messaging (DMs in 2013) alongside video-format Stories (2016) before Reels (2020), to go beyond mere image sharing. Savvy businesses have enjoyed the potential of creative storytelling through image and video since these features were introduced within the last decade.
Perfectly suited to product-strong businesses, decor or fashion stylists and artists, this Meta-owned network offers you the chance to show your wares (with product tags enabling viewers to click and shop them). Having said that, many service providers, event companies and organisations also benefit by showing their human side, highlighting their experiences and promoting the benefits of membership.
Boost a post as a paid ad. Convert followers’ interest and questions by harnessing Instagram Direct, an in-app messenger, to progress leads through the sales funnel into sales. There’s a world of opportunities waiting for businesses that use this photo and video-strong network.
Is Instagram just for millennials?
Given Instagram’s emergence in the 2010s, you would be right to assume that its 18-34 year-old age group dominates user statistics (The Global Statistics). Yet, this same source reveals that it sees a 26.9% adoption rate across individuals aged 13 and above, and the social site’s UK users total 33.4 million in 2025. Clearly, those older than Gen Z and millennials have signed up.
Will Instagram deliver on your ROI?
While results vary between businesses and competition is increasing, Backlinko reports that the 2 billion-strong monthly active Instagram community represents “35.4% of the world’s 5.65 billion internet users”. This enables your organisation to access a truly global platform.
Still unsure? Instagram Shopping reveals that “130 million people tap to reveal product tags in shopping posts each month”. Clearly, consumers are willing to buy through a social app.
Where did LinkedIn begin?
Going live in 2003, this social media channel has enabled companies to advertise their job vacancies for many years. By 2011, LinkedIn was realising a 100+ million-strong network. Owned by Microsoft since 2016, after it purchased the website for $26 billion, it has become a premium online destination to recruit and network with peers.
What are LinkedIn’s top features?
While it is regarded as the most formal of the big four social media networks, LinkedIn is not only the preserve of blue-chip companies and multinationals. More and more small businesses and solo traders are utilising its global standing to promote their services. They can even be backed by LinkedIn Recommendations from past customers/clients.
Publishing posts, carousels, videos and images with text are just some of the thought leadership features worth exploring. You can showcase your industry background within your personal profile. Then expand your following among clients, customers and prospects by creating a LinkedIn Company Page. Hiring is still an option once you expand your operations.
Not sure where to begin? Check out our helpful guide, How to create winning LinkedIn posts – our 8 top tips.
Who really uses LinkedIn?
While there is an assumption that the site is intended solely for Business to Business (B2B) marketing, this is being unravelled as artists, jewellery makers and non-corporate travel agents find their voice there. They can also reach LinkedIn’s demographics that include 18-24 year-olds (24.5% of users), millennials (approximately 50% of users) and experienced professionals aged over 34 years old (approximately 24% of users).
Is LinkedIn ROI a good ROI?
Whether you are seeking to promote legal, tech and other traditionally corporate services, or are seeking to target an affluent, decision-making and professional audience segment, LinkedIn can introduce you to 39 million registered UK users. Understand your ideal customer profile before connecting with them and showcase the benefits of your B2C products/services to full effect.
Unsure if your company needs its own website? Explore our views on whether websites matter in the age of social media.
X (formerly Twitter)
Early Twitter to X
Lifewire explains that Twitter’s co-founder, Jack Dorsey, “imagined Twitter as an SMS-based communications platform”. It was intended to allow friendship groups to follow each other with status updates. Jump forward to 21st March 2006, and Jack sent the first ever tweet, noting how he was setting up the social media platform. Elon Musk then bought Twitter in late 2022, making several changes that culminated in the rebranding to ‘’X’ in late July 2023.
How can businesses market themselves with X?
Long gone is the original character limit of 140. Intended to mimic text messages with extra characters for the user’s Twitter name, you can now use X to send on-brand GIFs, videos and photos. These content forms are ideal to help your business stand out on clients’ and customers’ feeds.
Sign up for a business page. Advertise your company with X Ads Manager, where you can plan, track and report your paid ads’ performance. Sign up for a Premium plan to unlock new features such as boosted posts and replies, to increase your visibility on this platform.
How many users are on X?
Everywhere Marketer points to some attractive user statistics. For example, in 2024, there were 260 million global users who checked the site every day and 25.9 million account holders located in the UK. This shows that the social media site has retained a sizable following that businesses can address. Yet the Resourcera figure of over 586 million monthly active users is relatively less than the billions of potential prospects seen with Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Can X create a viable ROI?
Whilst some brands may veer away from the recent controversies surrounding X, for those who stay, there are reported rewards to be enjoyed from paid advertising. A study of four brands saw them realise an “average return of $2.70” from each dollar spent; that’s “an average ROI nearly 40% higher than the average ROI across all other media investments”.
Delaying social media because of time constraints? Let our article Why Loomly Is Our First Choice for Social Media Management reassure you.
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Whichever of the big four social media platforms you employ, your marketing can be complemented by our designs. Having won multiple awards in recent years, contact us today for a no-obligation discussion.
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If you found this helpful, then you should also read these articles: Using Data To Boost Your Digital Business, Writing Effective Title Tags and Meta Descriptions and Google Analytics 4: Your Questions Answered.