How to Find Customers on Social Media (Platform by Platform)

Instagram and Threads: search how people tag their own life

On Instagram, search the tags people put on their own happy news, not the tags businesses use. Try #newhome, #firsthome, #justmoved, #wegotthekeys, #shesaidyes, #engaged, #newpuppy, #movingday, #newoffice. Add your city to the tag if the short version exists: #newhomeaustin, #movingtomiami.

Two more places that work better than the tag feed:

• •Location pages. Tap a neighbourhood, a new apartment building, a venue, a hospital, and read the recent posts.
• •Tagged photos on local businesses. Look at who tags the new-build developer, the ring shop, the venue, the vet clinic.

Threads is simpler: it searches plain words. Type the sentence a real person would write — "just moved to Denver", "we got the keys", "first apartment" — and read the newest results.

Check these two daily if you can. Posts here get buried fast, and a three-week-old "we got the keys" is a house that is already furnished.

Facebook groups and Nextdoor: people ask out loud here

This is the easiest place to start, because people literally ask. Join the groups where your customers already are: the neighbourhood group, "Moving to [city]", buy-and-sell, new-parent groups, local business owners, expat groups if your city has them.

Use the search box inside each group, not the main Facebook search. Search phrases, not services:

• •"anyone know a good"
• •"recommendations for"
• •"we just moved"
• •"closing on"
• •"any advice"

Sort by recent every time. Read the group rules once — many ban open promotion, and breaking that gets you removed on your best week.

The move that works: answer in the comments first with something actually useful, no pitch. Then, if it fits, send a short private message. People trust the person who helped in public.

Check your groups every morning. Comment threads fill up within a few hours and the first three helpful replies win.

Reddit, X and LinkedIn: long stories, fast news, and business moves

Reddit is where people write the whole story. Go to your city's subreddit and any subreddit for your topic. Search "moving to [city]", "recommendations", "contractor", "worth it?", then sort by new and limit to the past week. Reddit hates selling, so answer the question fully and put nothing but your first name at the end. If they want more, they ask.

X is fast and shallow, which is fine — you want fresh. Search the plain sentence, then switch to the Latest tab. "my ac died", "we're engaged", "first day at", "just signed the lease".

LinkedIn is the business version of "we got the keys". Watch for:

• •"excited to announce our new office"
• •"we signed the lease"
• •"we closed our seed round"
• •"we're hiring our first ten"
• •"last day at" and "starting a new role"

Each of those means moving, furniture, fit-out, printing, catering, insurance, relocation, coaching. Twice a week is enough here; business posts stay useful longer.

The exact words people post right before they buy

These are the sentences to search for, word for word. Copy them into your notes and reuse them every week.

Home and moving:

• •"we got the keys"
• •"closing on Friday"
• •"officially homeowners"
• •"lease signed"
• •"moving to [city] next month"
• •"our apartment is finally empty"

Weddings and family:

• •"she said yes"
• •"we're engaged"
• •"save the date"
• •"baby coming in October"
• •"we adopted a puppy"

Home repair and trades:

• •"my AC died"
• •"no hot water since yesterday"
• •"there is water coming through the ceiling"
• •"our boiler is done for"

Business and career:

• •"we outgrew our office"
• •"open plan is killing me"
• •"was let go today"
• •"first hire starts Monday"

Search them in the language your customers actually use, spelled the way they spell it. If your city speaks Spanish or Arabic or Russian, search in that language and that alphabet — the translated version returns nothing.

This is exactly the part ByPath watches for people who do not have an hour a day to search by hand.

Real moment or noise: five checks before you write

Most of what you find is noise. Run these five checks in about thirty seconds each.

• •How old is it? Past seven to fourteen days for life events, past two days for emergencies. An old post means the job is already done.
• •Is it a person or a business? Half of every hashtag is other sellers advertising. If the account posts price lists, skip it.
• •Is it the right place? Their city, your city. Check the post text, the location tag, and the first line of their bio.
• •Are they the one deciding? "My sister just bought a house" is not your customer. Their sister is, and you cannot reach her.
• •Did someone already win? Read the comments. If there are twelve recommendations and a "thank you, booked!", move on.

One more soft check: would you feel comfortable if they saw exactly how you found them? If the post is public and you reply to what they actually said, yes. If you have to explain yourself, skip it.

ByPath applies checks like these automatically and only reads public posts — but the checks work the same by hand.

The first message that gets a reply

The mistake is answering with your service. The fix is answering the moment.

Rules that work:

• •Say where you saw the post, in a normal way. No mystery.
• •Name the specific thing they said, not "your post".
• •Give one small useful thing for free, right there in the message.
• •Ask one easy question they can answer in five words.
• •No price, no link, no brochure in the first message.
• •Three or four sentences. That is the whole message.

An example for a mover, replying to "lease signed, we move in on the 30th":

"Saw your post in the neighbourhood group — congrats on the new place on Oak Street. Quick heads up, that building only allows lift bookings before 3pm on weekdays, so book it this week. Are you moving furniture too, or mostly boxes?"

No pitch, real help, easy question. If they answer, you are in a conversation, and you can talk about the job.

Follow up once, four or five days later, with something new — never "just checking in". If they stay quiet after that, leave them alone.

A rhythm you can keep, and an easier way

None of this works if you do it for two days and quit. Keep it small.

• •Every morning, twenty minutes: Facebook groups and Nextdoor, then Instagram and Threads.
• •Twice a week, twenty minutes: LinkedIn, Reddit, X.
• •Keep one simple sheet: name, link to the post, date you saw it, what you sent, when to follow up.
• •Keep your list of search phrases in a note and paste them in. Do not retype from memory, you will forget half.

Aim for a handful of good conversations a week, not a hundred messages. Five real ones beat fifty cold ones, every time.

And if twenty minutes a day is twenty minutes you do not have, that is the reason ByPath exists. It watches public posts for the exact moments you care about, in your city and your language, and every morning gives you about five people worth writing to, with a first message already drafted. It never sends anything for you — you read it, change it, send it yourself.

ByPath is not on sale yet. You can join the waitlist for early access and we will let you know when your city and trade are ready.

Questions people ask