What to post on social media for a small business in Toronto

• What you do: one service or product, in plain words, with a photo. Customers often cannot tell from your name what you actually offer.
• Proof: a finished job, a happy customer (with permission), a before and after. This is the post that makes someone trust you.
• People: the owner, the team, a day behind the scenes. People hire and buy from people.
• Local: your neighbourhood, a nearby event, a street or a park you love. It tells Toronto customers you are one of them.
• Useful: a short tip or an answer to a question customers ask you every week.
• How to book or buy: hours, how to reach you, the next opening, what to do next. Easy to forget, and the post that turns attention into customers.

Five posts a week is enough for most small businesses. One way to spread them:

• Monday: what you do
• Tuesday: a useful tip
• Wednesday: proof, such as a finished job
• Thursday: local or the people behind the business
• Friday: how to book or buy before the weekend

Name your neighbourhood and your service area. A café on Queen West, a physio clinic in North York and a plumber covering Scarborough and Pickering all have different customers, and saying where you are helps both people and search engines.

Use the local calendar when it genuinely fits: patio season, long weekends, TIFF week, back-to-school and the holidays. Skip it when it does not fit your business. Forced hooks read as forced.

• Anything you cannot stand behind: claims, prices or offers you are not sure of.
• Posts that are only a logo or a stock photo with no point.
• Selling in every post. A good rule is that most posts should help, show or introduce, and a few should ask.