How to Set Up Social Media for Your New Business
Getting social media right early is not about posting more content or chasing trends. It is about building a clean, trustworthy foundation you can scale as your business grows.
For new UK businesses, social media sits at the intersection of branding, marketing, compliance, and customer trust. Done properly, it becomes a long-term asset. Done badly, it creates confusion, security risks, and reputational headaches that are hard to undo.
This guide walks you through a practical, step-by-step social media setup you can complete over a weekend. It covers platform selection, branding basics, access and security, content systems, and the UK-specific compliance points many founders miss.
Why social media setup matters from day one
Your social profiles often become your business’s first point of contact. Before someone visits your website, picks up the phone, or sends an enquiry, they are likely to search your business name on Google, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook.
What they see in those first few seconds answers important questions:
- Is this a real, legitimate business?
- Does the branding match the website and Companies House record?
- Is this company active and professional?
- Can I trust them with my money or data?
A rushed or inconsistent setup sends the wrong signals. A calm, coherent setup builds credibility even before you publish your first post.
What this guide helps you achieve
By the end of this article, you will have:
- Claimed the right social media platforms for your business model
- Set up profiles with consistent branding and messaging
- Put basic security and access controls in place
- Understood your UK compliance responsibilities around marketing and data
- A simple, realistic content system you can maintain
This is not about becoming a full-time content creator. It is about creating a professional baseline you can build on without redoing everything later.
UK-specific considerations founders often overlook
Many social media guides are written with a global audience in mind. UK businesses have a few extra responsibilities that are worth addressing early.
- Company transparency: If you trade as a limited company, your branding and business name should be consistent with your registered name at Companies House, even if you use a trading name.
- Marketing compliance: Promotional content, competitions, and direct messages are subject to UK advertising rules and guidance from regulators such as the ASA.
- Data protection: Lead forms, DMs, and tracking pixels all count as personal data processing and must align with UK GDPR expectations.
Handling these properly from the start reduces risk and makes future growth much smoother.
A realistic setup you can complete in a weekend
You do not need months of planning or expensive agencies to get this right.
A focused weekend setup can cover:
- Choosing the right platforms for your audience
- Creating consistent profile assets
- Writing clear, compliant bios and descriptions
- Setting up access, passwords, and recovery options
- Planning your first month of simple, useful content
Each section of this guide builds on the last, so you are not just creating accounts, but building a system you can realistically manage alongside running your business.
Next, we will look at how to choose the right social media platforms for your new business, and which ones you can safely ignore at the beginning.
1) Start with the basics: what social media is actually for
Before you create a single account or upload a logo, you need clarity on one thing: what role social media is meant to play in your business right now.
Social media is not a goal in itself. It is a tool. Used well, it supports clear business outcomes. Used vaguely, it becomes a time drain with very little return.
A simple way to avoid that trap is to define what you want social media to achieve in your first 90 days.
Common social media goals for new businesses
Most new UK businesses fall into one or two of the following categories:
- Awareness
Building local visibility, credibility, and basic trust. This is the “proof you exist” phase where people can find you, recognise your name, and feel confident you are legitimate. - Leads
Driving enquiries, calls, bookings, quote requests, or form submissions. This is common for service-based businesses such as consultants, trades, agencies, and professional services. - Sales
Direct purchases through social platforms. This is usually relevant for ecommerce-first brands rather than most service businesses. - Support
Reducing emails and phone calls by handling FAQs, updates, and basic customer queries publicly or via messages. - Recruitment
Attracting employees, contractors, collaborators, or partners by showcasing culture, values, and opportunities.
Pick focus, not perfection
The most common mistake new founders make is trying to use social media for everything at once.
Instead, choose:
- One primary goal for the next 90 days
- One secondary goal that supports it
For example:
- A local service business might prioritise awareness first, with leads as a secondary goal
- An online consultant might prioritise leads, with awareness as support
- An ecommerce brand might prioritise sales, with support content to reduce friction
Everything else becomes optional, not urgent.
Why this matters so early
Your goals shape every decision that follows, including:
- Which platforms you choose
- What your profile bios say
- The type of content you publish
- How often you post
- What success actually looks like
Without this clarity, it is easy to post inconsistently, chase trends that do not serve your business, and abandon social media entirely after a few months.
With it, social media becomes focused, measurable, and manageable alongside everything else you are building.
Next, we will look at how to choose the right social media platforms for your business, and which ones you can confidently ignore in the early stages.
2) Choose the right platforms (do not default to all of them)
One of the fastest ways to burn out on social media is trying to be everywhere from day one.
Every platform has its own culture, content formats, and time demands. Spreading yourself too thin usually leads to inconsistent posting, rushed content, and accounts that quietly go inactive.
Most new UK businesses perform far better with a tight, intentional starting stack that matches their business model and short-term goals.
Core platform picks for many UK startups
These platforms form a strong foundation for visibility, trust, and enquiries for a wide range of UK businesses.
Facebook and Instagram (Meta)
The Meta ecosystem remains one of the most versatile options for new businesses.
- Broad reach across age groups
- Strong local discovery and community visibility
- Built-in messaging for enquiries and support
- Simple advertising and boosted posts
- Centralised scheduling and management through Meta Business tools
Meta’s own learning resources explain how Business Suite supports growth, account management, and advertising across both platforms from a single dashboard.
Official resources: Meta Business Help Centre
LinkedIn is particularly powerful for:
- B2B companies
- Service-based businesses
- Professional credibility and authority
- Partnership and referral relationships
- Recruitment and hiring
A well-maintained LinkedIn Page often acts as a credibility check for potential clients and partners, especially in professional services.
Official resources: Creating and managing a LinkedIn Page
Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile is not traditionally thought of as a social platform, but in practice it behaves like one.
For local and service-based UK businesses, it is critical for:
- Appearing in Google Maps results
- Local search visibility
- Trust through reviews and photos
- Calls, directions, and website clicks
Many potential customers will see your Google Business Profile before they ever visit your website or social channels.
Official resources: Google Business Profile Help
Add-on platforms (only if they match your model)
Once your core platforms are running consistently, you can consider adding others if they genuinely suit your business and content style.
TikTok
TikTok can offer strong organic reach, but only if you are comfortable posting short, human, video-led content consistently.
- Best suited to brands with a clear personality or educational angle
- Requires frequent, informal content rather than polished campaigns
If you use TikTok, set it up properly using TikTok Business Center rather than a personal account.
Official resources: TikTok For Business
YouTube
YouTube works best when you can:
- Teach or explain topics clearly
- Answer common customer questions
- Review or demonstrate products
- Create content that benefits from search over time
Unlike fast-moving social feeds, YouTube content can generate views and enquiries months or years after publishing.
A simple rule of thumb
Start with:
- Two social platforms that match your goals
- Plus a fully optimised Google Business Profile
Only expand once you are posting consistently and seeing clear engagement or enquiries.
Consistency on a small number of platforms will always outperform sporadic activity across many.
Next, we will cover how to name, brand, and secure your social media accounts properly before you start posting.
3) Lock in your brand foundations (so every post looks like you)
Consistency is one of the biggest trust signals on social media.
When your profiles, posts, and visuals feel joined up, people recognise you faster and take you more seriously. When they feel random or inconsistent, even good content can look unprofessional.
Before you design posts or write captions, create a simple one-page mini brand kit. This does not need to be complicated or expensive. It just needs to be clear.
Brand essentials
Start by documenting the written elements of your brand. These shape how you describe yourself and how you sound online.
- Your business name
Use the exact spelling you want customers to recognise, including any trading name. This should align with your website and, where relevant, your registered company details. - Your tagline or one-liner
A clear sentence that explains what you do, who you do it for, and where you operate. This often becomes your social media bio or headline. - Three to five brand values
These help define your tone of voice. For example, are you formal or friendly, bold or reassuring, fast-moving or detail-focused? - Short “About” paragraph (50–100 words)
Used for bios, profile descriptions, and quick introductions. - Long “About” paragraph (150–300 words)
Used on LinkedIn Pages, Facebook Pages, and website sections where you have more space to explain what you do and why.
Having these written once means you are not rewriting your business description from scratch every time you create a new profile.
Visual essentials
Next, lock down the visual building blocks that make your posts instantly recognisable.
- Logos
A square logo for profile images, a horizontal version for banners, and a simple icon version for small spaces. - Colour palette
Choose two to four core colours you will use consistently. Fewer colours usually leads to a cleaner, more professional look. - Fonts
One primary font and one secondary font is more than enough for social media graphics. - Image library
Aim for 10 to 20 photos you own and can reuse, such as team photos, premises, products, behind-the-scenes shots, before-and-after images, or simple process visuals.
Using your own photos, even if they are not perfect, usually builds more trust than relying entirely on generic stock images.
Staying consistent without overthinking it
If you use Canva, its Brand Kit feature allows you to store logos, colours, fonts, and basic guidelines in one place. This makes it much easier to create consistent visuals, even if multiple people are posting.
The goal is not perfection. The goal is recognisability.
Once these foundations are in place, every post looks intentional rather than improvised.
Next, we will cover how to set up your social accounts securely and correctly, so you avoid access problems and ownership disputes later.
4) Create accounts properly (and avoid the personal profile trap)
One of the most common early mistakes is running a business through personal social media accounts.
It feels quicker at the start, but it creates problems later. Ownership disputes, lost access, limited features, advertising restrictions, and security issues all tend to show up once the business grows.
From day one, set up business assets, not personal profiles doing business things.
LinkedIn Page
If your business operates in B2B, professional services, or recruitment, a LinkedIn Page is essential.
LinkedIn’s own setup process is straightforward. You choose a Page type, add company details, and confirm that you are authorised to act for the organisation.
Minimum setup checklist:
- Square logo and a clean banner image
- Clear tagline and business description
- Website URL
- Business location or service area
- CTA button such as “Visit website”, “Contact us”, or “Learn more”
Official guidance: LinkedIn Page setup and management
Google Business Profile
For UK businesses that serve customers locally or nationally, Google Business Profile is one of the most important assets you will ever set up.
Create or claim your profile and complete verification using the options Google offers for your business type. This might include postcard verification, phone, email, or video verification.
Minimum setup checklist:
- Correct primary category (this is critical for visibility)
- Opening hours or service area
- Phone number, website, and address or service area
- At least 10 high-quality photos
- Clear products or services list
- A short “from the owner” business description
Google’s own help documentation walks through setup and verification in detail.
Meta (Facebook Page and Instagram Business)
Even if you do not plan to run adverts immediately, Meta platforms should be set up properly from the start.
This means creating a Facebook Page and connecting it to an Instagram Business account through Meta’s business tools, rather than running everything from a personal profile.
Doing this early allows you to:
- Manage access without sharing passwords
- Assign admin, editor, and analyst roles
- Use built-in scheduling tools
- Add security and recovery options
Meta points businesses to Business Suite as the central place to manage Pages, Instagram accounts, messages, and scheduling.
TikTok (only if relevant)
If TikTok is part of your strategy, avoid using a personal account to represent your business.
Set up TikTok Business Center so you can manage assets, permissions, and future advertising cleanly as your account grows.
Why this matters long term
Creating business accounts properly from day one protects you from:
- Losing access when staff or contractors leave
- Being locked out of advertising features
- Having no recovery option if an account is compromised
- Ownership disputes if the business grows or changes hands
It takes a little longer up front, but it saves significant time, stress, and cost later.
Next, we will look at securing your accounts properly and setting up access controls so your social media remains protected as your team expands.
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