I wanted to know where my customers actually spend their time online. Not where marketing blogs say they are — where they really are. So I went looking for data. Here's what I found.
Why does this matter?
I work with rural and remote business owners. They're plumbers in Kelowna, motel owners in Montana, brewery founders in the Kootenays. They're not terminally online. They're busy.
But I kept running into the same question: if I want to reach these people — or help them reach their customers — where do they actually show up? The marketing world loves to talk about "meeting your customers where they are." Okay. But where is that, exactly?
So I pulled the research. Not blog posts about blog posts — actual data from DataReportal, the U.S. Bank Small Business Survey, LinkedIn's pressroom, Reddit's business documentation, and about 50 other sources. Here's what I learned.
How much time do small business owners spend online?
About two hours and nine minutes per day on social media specifically. That's slightly less than the global average of 141 minutes.
But the number doesn't tell you much on its own. The context matters more: these people work 50-60 hours a week. Half of them are personally filling gaps left by staff shortages. 98% are worried about the economy.
They don't have time to waste. Every minute online needs to return something — a solution, a connection, a piece of intelligence they can use tomorrow.
This created what the research calls a "utilitarian migration." The passive scrolling is over. Business owners are moving toward platforms that solve specific problems: finding workers, vetting tools, getting unfiltered advice, automating tasks they don't have time for.
That was my first realization: they're not online for entertainment. They're online to work.
Do small business owners use Facebook?
Yes — 82% of small businesses use Facebook to promote products and connect with customers. But I had the wrong mental model for how.
I thought of Facebook as a posting platform. For business owners, it's more like a storefront and a customer service desk rolled into one.
Over 250 million people engage with Facebook Shops every month. 58% of US shoppers have bought something after seeing it on social media, and Facebook is the primary discovery channel. Business owners aren't just posting updates; they're managing ads, responding to Messenger leads, and updating store inventory.
The average adult spends 31-35 minutes daily on Facebook. For business owners, I'd guess almost all of that is operational — checking leads, responding to customers, running ads.
What I took from this: If you're selling to business owners, Facebook isn't for brand awareness. It's for commerce. Show up in their Shop feed, their Messenger inbox, or their ad targeting — not their timeline.
What about Instagram?
62% of decision-makers increased their investment in content creation this past year, with heavy focus on Instagram Stories and Reels. Stories alone get 500 million daily views.
For lifestyle, retail, and hospitality businesses, Instagram is what I'd call "aesthetic proof" — evidence that the brand exists and cares about presentation. It's visual credibility.
But there's a catch: organic reach dropped 41% in 2024. The free ride is over. You're paying to play now, whether that's with money or with enough content volume to game the algorithm.
My takeaway: Instagram matters if you have something visual to show. But you can't rely on organic reach anymore. Budget for ads or plan to post constantly.
Is LinkedIn actually useful for small business?
This one surprised me.
LinkedIn has 67 million small businesses on it. Over 53% of American users earn more than $100,000 annually. It drives 80% of B2B social media leads. 69% of US users check it daily.
I'd underestimated it because I thought of LinkedIn as a job hunting platform. For business owners, it's where trust gets built.
Posts between 800-1,000 words get 26% more engagement than shorter updates. 65% of business owners on LinkedIn now identify as content creators. They're moving from simple updates to long-form thought leadership. LinkedIn Newsletters have 28 million subscribers globally.
What I learned: LinkedIn is where decision-makers go to feel smart and find peers. If you're selling B2B services, this is your primary stage. Post substance, not announcements.
Do business owners actually use TikTok?
More than I expected. 58% of small businesses are now active on TikTok. Users spend 53.8 minutes daily on the app — more than any other platform.
The engagement numbers are wild: for accounts under 100,000 followers, engagement rates can hit 7.5%. That's unheard of on other platforms.
60% of TikTok users use the app for shopping inspiration. 70 million people in the US use TikTok Shop.
What's happening here is that TikTok's algorithm is genuinely democratic. A small business with something surprising or useful can reach as many people as a big brand with a million-dollar budget. The "human touch" and authenticity that plays well here levels the playing field.
My takeaway: If you have something visual, surprising, or genuinely useful, TikTok might actually show it to people. The algorithm doesn't care how big you are.
What about YouTube?
YouTube reaches 78.5% of the total internet user base. The average session is 7 minutes 37 seconds — significantly longer than other platforms.
For business owners, YouTube functions as a "de facto business school." Tax strategies, marketing tactics, technical troubleshooting — it's where they go for deep-dive learning.
I've started thinking of YouTube differently. It's not social media. It's a searchable library of tutorials. Business owners are there to learn, not to be entertained.
What I took from this: If you can explain something complex in 7-10 minutes, YouTube is your classroom.
Where do business owners get unfiltered advice?
This is where things got interesting.
I kept seeing references to Reddit in the research. 91.2 million daily active users. 138,000 active subreddits. The upvote/downvote system acts as a quality filter for advice.
Google's been prioritizing Reddit content since 2024, which means business owners are finding it through search even if they don't have accounts. They search for terms like "lessons learned" or "first year advice" to find non-obvious operational tips.
The key communities I found:
- r/Entrepreneur — 4.9 million members, strategic planning
- r/smallbusiness — 2.2 million members, operational stuff
- r/marketing — 1.8 million members, digital strategy
- r/IndieHackers — 230,000 members, bootstrapped founders
What I learned: Reddit is where business owners go to find out what actually works — not what marketing departments say works. If you're selling to them, study these communities. See what questions they're asking.
Are there private communities too?
Yes, and they're more important than I realized.
36% of solopreneurs seek support through online communities. Platforms like Slack and Discord have become the digital watercooler for people who work alone.
Communities like Online Geniuses (35,000 marketing agency owners), Furlough (50,000 professionals), and Startup Chat (5,000 founders) are where owners stay accountable, see different perspectives, and share knowledge with people behind them in the journey.
These solve what researchers call the "self-isolation gap" that got worse after the pandemic.
The catch: These are private spaces. You can't advertise into them. But if you're genuinely helpful, you might get invited into them. That's where trust actually gets built.
Do business owners listen to podcasts?
78% of business leaders listen to podcasts weekly, spending more than 54 minutes daily on audio content.
The completion rate is what caught my attention: 80% for audio versus 12% for video. When someone starts a podcast, they usually finish it. That's nearly an hour of undivided attention.
The top podcasts for business owners include How I Built This, The Tim Ferriss Show, Masters of Scale, and Marketing School. And there's a shift happening: 58% of business podcasts are now video-first, which means owners discover content via social clips, then commit to full episodes during commutes or admin tasks.
What I took from this: Podcasts have your audience's attention for nearly an hour. If you can get on the right ones, you're not interrupting — you're accompanying.
What about newsletters?
Business newsletters have open rates of 48-49%. That's remarkably high for email.
Morning Brew has 4 million subscribers. The Hustle has 2.5 million. TLDR has 1.25 million. These land directly in the owner's inbox.
30% of business owners follow newsletters specifically to stay ahead of AI trends. Email marketing contributes 11% of total e-commerce sales with an ROI of up to $50 for every $1 spent by top performers.
My takeaway: The inbox is still the highest-trust channel. If you can earn a spot there, you've bypassed the algorithm entirely.
Are small business owners using AI?
This was the biggest shift I found.
77% of business owners have integrated AI into operations. That's nearly double from the previous year.
They're using it for:
- Content creation (44%)
- Data analysis (41%)
- Sales and marketing strategy (39%)
68% spend less than $50/month on these tools. 76% say AI helps smaller brands compete with larger ones. 88% say these tools let them reclaim time for "personal connections" with customers.
I'd assumed AI adoption would be slow among traditional business owners. The data says otherwise. They're becoming AI-fluent fast.
What this means: If you're selling to business owners, you're not explaining what AI is anymore — you're showing how yours saves time they don't have.
How does this apply to rural business owners?
I work primarily with rural and remote businesses, so I kept asking: is this different for them?
The platforms are the same, but the stakes are higher.
Local agencies often don't exist in rural areas, or they're stuck on outdated tech. Your customers are discovering you on Facebook and TikTok, not in the phone book. Your competitors might be in the next town over — or they might be a direct-to-consumer brand that ships nationwide.
The "digital Main Street" matters more when the physical one is smaller. Platforms like Alignable (7 million members, mostly US entrepreneurs) have become the town square for referral networks and local business advice.
You're not just competing with the business down the road anymore. You're competing with everyone who can ship to your customers.
But you have advantages they don't: local presence, community ties, and the trust that comes from being part of the place.
What did I learn overall?
Small business owners don't have attention to spare. They're not scrolling — they're solving.
If you want to reach them:
- Show up where they're already solving problems (Reddit communities, YouTube tutorials, LinkedIn thought leadership)
- Offer something specific and actionable, not vague brand awareness
- Understand that their time is the scarcest resource they have
- Recognize that they're increasingly AI-fluent and tool-savvy
They're online. They're just not there for entertainment. They're there to find tools, answers, and people who can help them survive another quarter.
Be one of those people.