If you’re a life coach, Instagram. If you’re a B2B consultant, LinkedIn. If you sell courses, YouTube first and everything else second.
That’s the short answer. But short answers rarely cut it when there’s real money and time on the line. Picking the wrong platform doesn’t just mean less visibility. It means months of effort in a place where your ideal client isn’t looking for you.
This guide gives you exact platform recommendations by business type, backed by 2025-2026 data, so you can stop spreading yourself thin and focus your energy where it will actually pay off.
Important context
This article is part of our full guide Which Social Media Converts Best? 2026 Guide, where we compare all platforms with updated conversion metrics.
Coaches: the platform depends on your niche, not your preference
The most common mistake coaches make is choosing the social network they personally enjoy using the most. But your ideal client doesn’t necessarily hang out where you do.
| Coaching type | Primary platform | Secondary platform |
|---|---|---|
| Life / wellness / mindset | TikTok | |
| Business / executive | YouTube | |
| Career | ||
| Fitness / nutrition | Instagram / TikTok | YouTube |
| Parenting / relationships |
Why this breakdown? Because each platform has a different user intent.
Life, wellness, and mindset coaches: Instagram first
Instagram works for this niche for three specific reasons:
1. Transformation stories are visual. A before-and-after emotional shift, a Reel showing your process with a client (with permission), a carousel with the 5 obstacles that block change. All of that communicates better in a visual format.
2. Your personality is part of the product. In wellness and life coaching, people don’t just buy a method. They buy a connection with the coach. Instagram lets you show who you are without a corporate filter.
3. Video testimonials convert. A 30-second video of a client describing their experience generates more trust than an entire sales page.
TikTok is secondary because it gives you massive organic reach to attract new people, but the relationship gets built on Instagram.
Business and executive coaches: LinkedIn, no debate
If you help executives, founders, or professionals improve their performance, LinkedIn isn’t optional. It’s mandatory.
80% of B2B social media leads come from LinkedIn. Your ideal client is already spending time there looking for content that helps them make better professional decisions.
The strategy: publish thought leadership content 3-4 times per week. Your own takes on management, team building, decision-making. Not generic productivity tips. Ideas with a point of view.
YouTube is secondary because it lets you create long-form content that proves your expertise: interviews, case studies, frameworks explained in 10-15 minutes.
Career coaches: LinkedIn + Instagram
LinkedIn because your audience (professionals looking to advance) is already there. Instagram because motivational content and career-change testimonials work well in visual format.
The combination that works: technical content about job searching, interviews, and professional development on LinkedIn. More personal content, stories, and client results on Instagram.
Consultants: authority gets built before the first call
For consultants, the question isn’t just “where to post” but “where do I want to be found when someone searches for an expert in what I do.”
B2B: LinkedIn is non-negotiable
The numbers speak for themselves:
- 89% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for lead generation
- 62% say it effectively produces leads
- 80% of B2B social media leads come from LinkedIn
- 85% of B2B marketers say LinkedIn delivers the best value
If you’re a strategy, technology, finance, HR, or any B2B specialty consultant, LinkedIn has to be your number one platform. There’s no debate.
The second platform for B2B consultants should be YouTube. 29% of B2B buyers search for demos, reviews, and educational video content before making a purchasing decision. A YouTube channel with 20-30 well-produced videos on your specialty works as a trust machine that runs while you sleep.
Marketing consultants: multi-platform presence required
Here’s a contradiction you can’t ignore. If you claim to be a digital marketing expert but only show up on one platform, what message does that send?
Marketing consultants need an active presence on at least 2-3 platforms to demonstrate they practice what they preach. That doesn’t mean creating original content for all of them. It means having consistent presence, adapting the format for each one.
Professional services: LinkedIn + Facebook Groups
For lawyers, accountants, HR consultants, and similar professional services, the best-performing combination is LinkedIn for individual positioning and Facebook Groups for community.
Why Facebook Groups? Because many professional communities still live there. Entrepreneur groups, CFO networks, HR manager communities. Active participation in these groups (providing real value, not spam) generates leads in a way that no public post can match.
Course creators: the 3-layer funnel
If you sell online courses, you need to think of platforms as layers of a funnel, not isolated channels.
Layer 1 - Discovery: TikTok
TikTok is your mass reach channel. A 60-second video explaining a concept can reach 100,000 people who had never heard of you. The goal here isn’t to sell. It’s to spark curiosity. To make someone say “who is this person?” and look you up on other platforms.
Layer 2 - Nurturing: Instagram
Instagram is where you build the relationship. Stories showing your work process, carousels with mini-lessons from your course, Lives answering questions. This is where someone gets to know you, starts trusting you, and gets used to receiving value from you on a regular basis.
Layer 3 - Authority: YouTube
YouTube is where you prove you actually know what you’re talking about. 10-20 minute videos where you explain a topic with depth that doesn’t fit in a Reel. This is the content that convinces someone your course is worth the investment.
Why YouTube over other platforms for authority? Because YouTube is a search engine. When someone searches “how to do X” on Google, YouTube videos show up in results. Your content works for you 24 hours a day.
Where the sale actually happens
The sale doesn’t happen on social media. It happens on dedicated platforms: Teachable, Kajabi, Thinkific for the English-speaking market. Hotmart dominates in Latin America.
Social media is the attraction channel. The course platform is the conversion channel. Confusing the two is the most expensive mistake you can make.
Digital products: the specific strategy
If you sell ebooks, templates, memberships, or other digital products (not just courses), the platform priority shifts slightly:
- YouTube for educational content that demonstrates your expertise (29% of B2B buyers look for demos and reviews there)
- Instagram for community, product launches, and social proof
- TikTok for organic reach and getting in front of new audiences
The difference from courses is that digital products usually have a lower price point, which means the decision cycle is shorter. Someone can see a Reel, visit your profile, tap your link in bio, and buy your $29 template in 10 minutes.
For courses priced at $500 or more, that cycle doesn’t exist. You need multiple touchpoints before the purchase.
B2B vs B2C: the comparison tables you need
Platform ranking for B2B
| Rank | Platform | Usage among B2B marketers | What it’s good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 86-89% | 80% of B2B leads come from here | |
| 2 | YouTube | 50%+ | Demos, education, thought leadership |
| 3 | 50%+ | Groups, professional community | |
| 4 | Growing | Visual engagement, personal branding |
Platform ranking for B2C
| Rank | Platform | Usage among B2C marketers | What it’s good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 91% | Largest total reach, strong ad platform | |
| 2 | 80%+ | Product discovery, shopping features | |
| 3 | TikTok | Fast growth | Viral potential, Gen Z and Millennials |
| 4 | YouTube | Significant | Long-form video, reviews, education |
The key difference: in B2B, lead quality matters more than quantity. A single client who finds you on LinkedIn could be worth $50,000 in annual contract value. In B2C, volume matters more and you need platforms with massive reach.
The Latin America angle: Hotmart and WhatsApp change the rules
If you serve the Latin American market (or plan to), two platforms that rarely appear in English-language guides are absolutely critical.
Hotmart: the Teachable of Latin America
Hotmart dominates the online course market in Spanish and Portuguese. Its ecosystem includes an affiliate program, local payment gateways, and a creator community that supports each other.
If you sell courses to the Latin American market, Hotmart should be your sales platform before Teachable or Kajabi. Not because of quality differences, but because your audience already knows it and trusts it.
WhatsApp: where the sale closes
In Latin America, WhatsApp isn’t just a messaging app. It’s a sales tool.
The typical process: someone discovers you on Instagram or TikTok, watches your content on YouTube, becomes convinced you know what you’re talking about, and then messages you on WhatsApp to ask about your course or service.
Don’t ignore WhatsApp Business
If you sell to the LATAM market and don’t have WhatsApp Business set up with a catalog and quick replies, you’re leaving sales on the table. 70% of consumers in Latin America prefer communicating with businesses via WhatsApp over email.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best social media platform for coaches in 2026?
It depends on the niche. For life and wellness coaches, Instagram is the primary platform because of its visual format and storytelling capabilities. For business and executive coaches, LinkedIn is mandatory since 80% of B2B social media leads are generated there. For fitness coaches, Instagram and TikTok share the top spot due to their focus on visual and demonstration content.
Does a B2B consultant need to be on Instagram?
Not as a priority. 89% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for lead generation and 85% say it delivers the best value. A B2B consultant should master LinkedIn first and then consider YouTube for long-form educational content. Instagram can be a third channel for personal branding, but it’s not where B2B buyers are making decisions.
What platform works best for selling online courses?
It’s not a single one. The most successful course creators use a three-layer funnel: TikTok for discovery and mass reach, Instagram for building relationships and community, and YouTube for demonstrating authority with long-form educational content. The actual sale closes on dedicated platforms like Teachable, Kajabi, or Hotmart (for Latin America).
Is Facebook still useful for coaches and consultants?
Yes, but only in specific contexts. Facebook Groups remain relevant for professional communities and for niches like parenting, relationships, and professional services. For B2C, Facebook still has the largest total reach and the strongest advertising platform. But if you’re a business coach or B2B consultant, your time is better invested on LinkedIn.
Should I be on every social media platform at once?
No. Spreading yourself across too many platforms is one of the most expensive mistakes coaches and consultants make. It’s better to master one primary platform and maintain basic presence on a secondary one than to post mediocre content on five platforms. The exception is marketing consultants, who need multi-platform presence to demonstrate their expertise. Pick your primary platform based on your niche, commit for 90 days, and only then expand.
Your next step isn’t opening another account
If you made it this far, you already know which platform is yours. What you need now isn’t to sign up for another social network. It’s to create a 90-day content plan for the right platform and execute it with consistency.
One platform done well beats five platforms done halfway. Every time.
Related resources:
- Which Social Media Converts Best? 2026 Guide
- LinkedIn Algorithm 2026: Why Your Content Isn’t Getting Reach
Need a content strategy tailored to your niche and platform? At Mazkara Studio we create thought leadership content for coaches, consultants, and creators who want to position themselves as the go-to authority. Schedule a call →