This month we’re asking retailers: What social media platform works best for your business and why?

Elphicks of Huntingdon

We actively use Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, with each platform serving a distinct purpose in reaching and engaging our audience. Facebook consistently delivers the strongest results for our target customer base, with Instagram following closely behind. These platforms are well aligned with the age groups most likely to make purchasing decisions with us today. TikTok, meanwhile, attracts a younger demographic that may not yet be ready to convert into customers, but we view our presence there as a valuable long-term investment. By engaging with this audience now, we are building brand awareness and establishing relationships that will become increasingly important in the years ahead. With mobile usage at an all-time high and social media continuing to influence consumer behaviour, maintaining a strong and consistent presence across these platforms is essential. It ensures that Elphicks of Huntingdon remains visible, relevant, and positioned at the forefront of buying trends.

Home World – Mattress & Bed Centres

Facebook works best for us out of all the social media platforms we are on. Probably because we were one of the first to recognise the potential of Facebook social media 10 years ago. We have now built up over 30,000 followers. Facebook was basically the only social media platform back then. It is great for showing products in depth via videos. Customers can private message us or ask questions publicly on the advert. Private messages in particular can lead to sales; customers feel more confident about asking questions this way. It feels more personal, nearly as good as face to face in the shop. 

Glasswells

For our business, Facebook works best as it delivers the strongest return and customer engagement with our audience. Ultimately, it’s important to focus on the platforms that suit your business, and for us, Facebook continues to provide the best results.” Kimberley Hatch, Digital Marketing Manager at Glasswells.

Linthorpe Beds

Facebook and Instagram are currently our strongest performing platforms, both for advertising and organic content. Our typical target audience aligns closely with the demographics that are most active on these platforms, which makes them ideal for driving engagement and conversions. Our audience also particularly enjoys when we showcase our products online, especially through videos that highlight key details and features. This type of content provides the advice and reassurance customers want before committing to a purchase, helping to build confidence and encouraging them to visit us in-store. At the same time, we’re making a conscious push on TikTok to connect with a younger, modern audience. This ensures we’re reaching as many people within our audience as possible, while keeping our brand visible and relevant across different customer groups.

Toons Furnishers

Locally Facebook is our biggest platform and has become probably the most important marketing tool for us. We tend to push posts 4/5 times a week and boost certain posts that we think will draw attraction. Which you can see from the footfall and order questionnaire that it has a positive impact on sales. The positivity from posting on social media was a real driving factor in us bringing all our marketing in-house and now we have a dedicated team controlling all of this rather than outsourcing to a third party agency. We also do many funny and quirky videos that we post through TikTok, this type of post also does really well through Facebook and we often have people come into store purely through seeing our funny videos circulating.

Snooze

Facebook is where most of our customers are and LinkedIn is best for recruiting franchises. These platforms help our business by allowing for us to share educational pieces on sleep and overall health, allows the customer to connect with us, and we get to share our story.

Land of Beds

We use a mix of social media platforms, but Instagram works really well for our audience. It lets us show our products, share practical tips, and connect with people interested in sleep, wellbeing, and making their homes comfortable. We also love seeing customers showcase our products in their own homes and tag us, which gives real inspiration and helps us connect with our community.

Cox & Cox

Social media enables us to share beautiful content, which naturally lends itself to image-based channels, whilst demonstrating authenticity and realism behind the brand. This helps us create deeper connections with our customers and encourages greater engagement. Being an online only brand, this is incredibly important to us. Having visibility across multiple platforms allows us to target different demographics with tailored, relevant content. Our strongest channel for engagement and impressions is Instagram. TikTok allows us to showcase the team behind the scenes, giving the company a human face, promoting community, and highlighting the people who make up Cox & Cox. Pinterest is perfectly suited to our visual identity and style. Each channel plays a distinct role depending on the objective. For example, Instagram continues to be our most successful platform for reach.

Mattressman

For us at Mattressman, Facebook and Instagram work hand in hand. We see similar engagement on both platforms, and because they’re part of the same Meta ecosystem, we can manage everything seamlessly through the Meta suite. Staying connected with our customers is essential. They’re at the heart of what we do and the reason we’re still thriving today. Social media lets us share content that truly resonates with our community and makes it easy to keep that connection strong.

The Carriage

The Carriage is not your typical bed showroom as we are a bit more of a ‘Boutique Shopping Experience’, focusing predominately on premium, naturally filled hand crafted beds and mattresses. Our approach to advertising across the board is about showcasing the brands, educating the consumer utilising NBF tookits/interactive campaigns and letting people know about our high service levels, with the aim of driving customers to the store. We invest a lot of time on social media interaction and find Instagram in particular fits with what we are trying to achieve. It’s very visual which is great as we have access to some beautiful room sets and product photos from our suppliers that really do look amazing on the platform, as well as posting pictures of the showroom itself to showcase how unique it is. We also find Instagram very flexible, allowing us to be nimble with one off stories and reels and it is also an excellent platform to be able to support and promote other local businesses in the area, which we do on a weekly basis. Facebook comes a close second as it’s got a bit more of a broad reach in terms of audience. We receive enhanced interaction when we post reels/reviews/ testimonials or anything very personal to the business such as photos of the team or our pets. We have a developing TikTok account, but this is currently work in progress so watch this space!

Mattress Online

Instagram is the social platform that generally works best for our business. It provides a good mix of reach and engagement, letting us share product imagery, tag items, and post sleep advice from our growing panel of experts. Our followers respond well to short, direct content which is helpful, informative and entertaining, with a mixture of reels, stories and carousels consistently performing well.

Harrison & Brown Furniture

We currently use Facebook, Instagram and, more recently, TikTok. Each platform reaches a slightly different audience, and I wouldn’t say there’s one that works “best” for us it’s more about being consistent across them all. We’ve had customers mention they’ve seen our updates on Facebook, and one of our very first TikTok videos even brought a customer into the store who made a purchase. For me, the key is to keep posts regular, informative, interesting and sometimes just funny so people connect with us as much as our furniture.

M6 Beds

We use a mix of platforms, each serving a different purpose. Facebook is ideal for advertising and promotions, helping us target key audiences and drive traffic. Instagram allows us to create more digestible content — short, engaging posts that customers can easily connect with. YouTube is perfect for product-specific content, from detailed specifications to demonstrations and buying guides. We’ve also started to invest more time into YouTube, developing product-focused videos that we embed onto our website. This gives customers clear, easy-to-understand information and helps make the buying process smoother and more confident. This holistic approach is central to our strategy, ensuring we use each platform’s strengths to inspire customers, build brand awareness, and drive sales.

Dreamland Bedding Centre

At Dreamland, our primary focus on social media is Facebook, which continues to be the platform most closely aligned with our core customer demographic. Rather than relying on static posts, we have shifted much of our activity towards short-form content. Facebook “shorts” allow us to share engaging, bite-sized updates that capture attention quickly, reflect the personality of our business, and showcase products or promotions in a format that customers actually watch and interact with.