What social media strategy is working best for small local businesses in 2026?

[Arbab Mexico]

I am involved with the social media for Brisbane Metal Recyclers a local recycling enterprise in Australia and I'm interested in what other small business owners are doing to work well this year.

We have been trying out different kinds of posts, such as educational, short videos, customer stories and behind the scenes,  all are trying to see what is working and what isn't when it comes to getting some more organic reach.

So among the various platforms, which will be the most effective in terms of engagement or enquiries for those running local businesses in 2026? Do you create and upload every day, or are you using short form video, or community groups more?

I don't need any general tips on marketing, I want real experiences. What has actually been effective for your business in recent times?

[Contesthelper90]

For my local business, short-form videos and customer success stories have delivered the best results. Posting 3–4 times a week consistently works better than posting every day, and engaging with local community groups has brought in more enquiries than chasing viral content.

[Arbab Mexico]

Sounds much like what we have been seeing! We have started to test some short videos, educational posts, and a couple of behind-the-scenes images and these videos certainly appear to be performing better than the images. I think a lot of local businesses don't realize how much value the community groups can be to you, it's interesting because you've received more enquiries from the community groups. Posting daily also appears to be less consistent  again, as it does for me.

 

[Muhammad Kiyan]

We have found that educational posts and short-form posts are more useful than just posting promotional updates in our experience with Divine Metal Recycling. When including information about the different types of scrap metal and recycling, the content is more useful to the local population. I believe it's more important to be consistent than posting on a daily basis. Being active daily is not as effective as posting a few useful posts per week. Interesting to note if it's the short videos or the community groups that get real conversions (enquiries) or just likes and views.

https://www.divinemetalrecycling.com.au/

[Arbab Mexico]

Consistency and learning are important to a small local business, I agree. I have been working on the online marketing for Brisbane Metal Recyclers, and I believe that it is helpful to provide useful information, respond to customer questions and demonstrate real recycling activities to create trust and draw in local customers.

Also interested in whether it's more actual enquiries from short videos or community group posts. It would be interesting to compare the results of both.

[Nemat Hassan]

 

I believe consistency and valuable information are important to small local businesses. I've been working with Brisbane Metal Recycling and I've learnt that people can learn what a business is about if they are told what recycling activities are like in reality, they get the answers to the questions they have about different types of scrap metal and they get clear pictures of what the business does. I'd rather be giving you some helpful information than every single one of my posts would be an advertisement. I would also consider using local Facebook groups and short videos, I think a good way to gauge which is gaining more engagement and inquiries. Does anyone know of a platform that is more effective at targeting local customers than the others are?