Social signals / six social-channel chapters

Different channels.
Different possibilities.

See which businesses use each platform, how recently they posted, and what the retained audience evidence reveals. Choose a channel below to start.

Using a personal profile for your business can make it harder for customers and automated tools to find reliable business information.

InstagramFacebookLinkedInXYouTubeTikTok
Individual signals. A conversation takes shape.
Instagram01 / 06

Three professions with strong Instagram presence
Wedding venues62.9%
44 of 70 businesses
Event planners55.3%
42 of 76 businesses
Piercing studios50.9%
27 of 53 businesses
Dashed marker: 22.9% across all 8,976 businesses.
Platform presence, measured within each profession.
Median followers · two activity groups
1,089.5
207
Within 30 days896 distinct accounts
Over a year329 distinct accounts
Shape area scales with median audience. These are different account groups at the same snapshot—not growth over time.
A practical example · not a measured outcome

One completed job.

01
Photograph the result

Keep a clear before-and-after pair, with permission.

02
Make two useful updates

A photo post explains the work; a short video shows the change.

03
Prepare them together

Draft the captions, approve them and schedule the updates.

Scroll to unfold ↓
LinkedIn03 / 06

Three professions with strong LinkedIn presence
Recruitment agencies51.6%
32 of 62 businesses
Cybersecurity consultancies42.3%
33 of 78 businesses
Managed IT service providers41.4%
29 of 70 businesses
Dashed marker: 13.7% across all 8,976 businesses.
Platform presence, measured within each profession.
Median followers · two activity groups
1,308
206
Within 30 days460 distinct accounts
91–365 days169 distinct accounts
Shape area scales with median audience. These are different account groups at the same snapshot—not growth over time.
A practical example · not a measured outcome

One answer you give clients.

01
Write the useful explanation

Choose a question customers repeatedly ask.

02
Turn it into a short checklist

Give the reader something they can use in their own business.

03
Build a small publishing queue

Prepare and approve several answers together, then schedule them.

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X04 / 06

Three professions with strong X presence
Coach and minibus hire34.5%
20 of 58 businesses
Managed IT service providers31.4%
22 of 70 businesses
Cybersecurity consultancies30.8%
24 of 78 businesses
Dashed marker: 12.2% across all 8,976 businesses.
Platform presence, measured within each profession.
Median followers · two activity groups
614.5
147
Within 30 days118 distinct accounts
Over a year658 distinct accounts
Shape area scales with median audience. These are different account groups at the same snapshot—not growth over time.
A practical example · not a measured outcome

One profile worth maintaining.

01
Check what a visitor sees

Update the description and the destination link.

02
Pin the useful introduction

Explain what the business does and where to find current information.

03
Give new posts a purpose

Use service updates or useful answers when there is something relevant to share.

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YouTube05 / 06

Three professions with strong YouTube presence
Removal companies14.7%
15 of 102 businesses
Business consultancies13.1%
17 of 130 businesses
Orthodontists12.1%
12 of 99 businesses
Dashed marker: 5.5% across all 8,976 businesses.
Platform presence, measured within each profession.
Median subscribers · two activity groups
549.5
15
Within 30 days92 distinct accounts
Over a year191 distinct accounts
Shape area scales with median audience. These are different account groups at the same snapshot—not growth over time.
A practical example · not a measured outcome

One service, clearly demonstrated.

01
Record a simple explanation

Show the work or answer a question a customer asks before booking.

02
Make the video easy to identify

Use a specific title and a thumbnail that shows the subject.

03
Connect it to an enquiry

Put the relevant service-page link in the description.

Scroll to unfold ↓
TikTok06 / 06

Three professions with strong TikTok presence
Wedding venues18.6%
13 of 70 businesses
Event planners13.2%
10 of 76 businesses
Marketing agencies13.0%
17 of 131 businesses
Dashed marker: 3.3% across all 8,976 businesses.
Platform presence, measured within each profession.
Median followers · two activity groups
920
57
Within 30 days90 distinct accounts
Over a year47 distinct accounts
Shape area scales with median audience. These are different account groups at the same snapshot—not growth over time.
A practical example · not a measured outcome

One transformation worth watching.

01
Capture the beginning and result

A venue set-up or vehicle detail has a natural visual sequence.

02
Make a short demonstration

Show the change and explain what work was involved.

03
Reuse a repeatable format

Keep an editing template so the next job is quicker to turn into a post.

Scroll to unfold ↓
Six social channels. Different patterns.

You don’t have to be everywhere.
You do need a useful presence.

Find the channels your peers use. Make the information clear. Turn the work you already do into something a customer can see.

How these comparisons were made ↓

Explore use cases: a clearer place for customers to land ↗

Return to the Social Signals overview ↗

Sources & method

Retained business research · snapshot 8 September 2026. No new business collection was performed for this presentation.

  • Presence uses all 8,976 business records. A platform counts when an owned, readable account is retained. Businesses can use multiple platforms and belong to multiple professions. Profession comparisons shown here have at least 40 businesses.
  • Audience comparisons count distinct normalised account addresses with matched audience and post dates. Conflicting values are excluded. Each displayed activity group contains at least 40 accounts. LinkedIn compares within 30 days with 91–365 days because the over-year group has only one account.
  • Posting recency means time since the newest recorded post. It is not posting frequency. Audience is the retained follower or subscriber count, not enquiries, sales or measured growth. The owner actions are practical suggestions, not outcomes measured by this study.
  • Profession highlights are descriptive comparisons selected from the retained data. Sources: combined-estate-v1.1/combined.sqlite, business_view; audience-account-level-analysis.json. The original case-study site remains available through the links above.