Stop Being Everywhere: How to Choose Your Two Channels

23 June 2026

The average person uses six or seven platforms a month. Your business should not. Spread across five channels, a small firm does all of them badly; the consistent finding across engagement studies is that quality and consistency beat volume everywhere. Two channels, done properly, wins.

The cheat sheet (2026 edition)

• Selling to consumers locally (trades, food, salons, retail): Facebook — groups, reviews, Marketplace — plus Instagram for the visual proof.
• Selling to businesses: LinkedIn (the founder's profile, not the page) plus YouTube for the questions buyers search.
• Visual/aspirational products (home, garden, food, craft, weddings): Instagram plus Pinterest for the planners.
• Under-35 consumer audience: TikTok plus Instagram, same vertical videos both.
• Every business, regardless: Google Business Profile (not optional) and an email list (the channel you own).

The choosing questions

Where do your actual customers say they found you? (Ask — the answer is often humbling.) Which format can you sustain — talking, photographing, writing? Sustainable beats optimal. And where are competitors weakest? A clear field is worth more than a crowded "right" answer.

Pick two. Post consistently for six months. Ignore the rest without guilt — everywhere is the same as nowhere, but with more passwords.