Best Social Media Sites for Small Business Owners

First off, when considering your online marketing strategy, your website MUST come first. Think of it as sort of a “base camp” that you will connect to/from any number of external points. Your website is property owned by you, whereas social media pages are the property of someone else. Look at social media sites as merely a vehicle to get your message out there and drive traffic back to what you have control over. Still, getting “social” is an important component of any marketing plan.

Of course, if you—or your business/agency—end up needing to manage multiple social media profiles from the list below, which is often the case for a growing company in 2018, I would certainly suggest you check out Social Report. They’re an awesome social media management platform that helps social media managers and agencies grow and manage their social media presence through post scheduling, sophisticated analytics, a Smart Inbox and more—without costing an arm and a leg like most other platforms.

1. Facebook.

Launched in February 2004 for college students, Facebook has come a long way in a short seven years. Now with an estimated 800 million active users, it is ranked as the most used social networking service in the world (by the number of active monthly users).

The Facebook interface makes it easy for your fans to ‘like’ or share your posts and when they do, their friends (the average user has 130 friends) will see this activity, therefore putting your brand in front of an audience you may not normally be able to access.

2. Instagram.

Created in 2010 as a photo sharing site, Instagram is the new darling of social media channels. In part due to its easy-going nature (photos are fun!) and in part because it was purchased by Facebook in 2012 and has been continually invested in ever since. Instagram is amazing for all sorts of businesses but does particularly well with visually driven organizations such as fashion, food, and travel.

Posts on Instagram tend to get better engagement than on other platforms, and the Live Story feature is a really fun way to show transparency … which is what consumers expect these days!

3. Twitter.

A micro-blogging social media site that has been around since 2004, Twitter has an estimated 300 million users world-wide. It has been described as SMS of the internet because posts are short, sweet and to-the-point.

Twitter is a tidal wave of information. Posts come in at 140 characters or less and can be organized via hashtags (#). Topics range from totally practical (I often search #Boulder) to the absolutely absurd (#gympetpeeve).

Twitter differs from Facebook in that users ‘follow’ each other. If someone follows you, you can follow them back. Therefore it is easier to gain a following, but the followers are not as targeted as they are on Facebook.

4. YouTube.

YouTube is a video-sharing social media site that is owned by Google. There are more than 48 hours of new video uploaded to the site every minute. Wow! As a small business owner, using video in your online marketing strategy – and the back-end keywords of your YouTube video -is just as important as your other online strategies.

5. LinkedIn.

Founded in 2002 and launched in 2003, LinkedIn is THE premier B2B social networking site. LI gets two new members every second, putting it at 135 million active users in more than 200 countries.

Traditionally viewed as the spot to put your resume and search for a job, LinkedIn has grown into a robust networking site. From job listings to interest groups (there are more than 870K groups) there are great benefits to keeping your profile up-to- date. Look at it as a business after hours event…. put on your suit, add a smile to your face and be on your best behavior because you never know what kind of business leads you’re going to get.

6. Pinterest.

If your products are visually appealing, then this social media site is for you. Pinterest is a vision board-styled social photo sharing site that was launched in 2009. The mission is to connect everyone in the world through shared taste and the things they find interesting. Users find and create theme-based boards, populating these ‘boards’ with a “Pin It” button. Pins may be divided into pictures, videos, discussions, and gifts.

Users may follow anyone or any brand; users can also ‘re-pin’ your pinned items. Companies with product photos can gain a huge following and quick.

7. Google+ (Google Plus).

Google is a powerhouse; this is no surprise. Initially launched as a search engine company in 1996, Google has continually added, updated and created new products that will appeal to it’s 1 billion unique visitors per month.

Google Plus was introduced in June 2011 for personal use and in November 2011 was opened to brands. Some of the features of Google+ include Circles, Hangouts, Messenger, Instant Upload,

Hashtags and more. These products are definitely designed with the user in mind. The downside – there is no way to create a vanity url for your brand page.

Even though this is Google’s fourth go at a social media site, you cannot deny the importance of adding your brand to there, if for search engine rankings alone.