Social Media Tools for Small Business: A Best Practices Guide

Being a part of a small business can have immense rewards. Unlike the rules that come with big business, small business can give you the advantage of calling your own shots and making your own rules. And in today’s world of social media helping us connect with clients in a way never imagined before, it’s easier to gain and retain new customers for life. But social media isn’t just about having a page that a few friends follow. Instead, social media should be used as a major marketing campaign that helps your company succeed. Here are some social media tools for your small business that will help you maximize your brand awareness.

HootSuite
HootSuite is a popular app that helps you manage all of your social media accounts from within one application. Whether you are trying to make a new status, upload a new picture, or inform your customers of a new deal, you can do all of these and more to all of your social media accounts from within one application. The best part about HootSuite, is for businesses with multiple departments, they can all access their own part of social media with permissions allowed inside the app. HootSuite is more than just a must-have, it is an integral part of any social media campaign.

Google Analytics
For companies that use a website (and you should be), its important to know what kind of traffic your website is getting. The best way to find this social media data is through Google Analytics. Google Analytics will help you see how many people are coming to your webpage, how long they are staying, where they are coming from and what they are looking at. Google Analytics offers some of the most in-depth details that you would expect from a company like Google.

MailChimp
MailChimp has grown to be a recognizable and reputable email marketing service for small businesses. Having a large and growing email list for your business will help you get information out to your customers in a more direct way and MailChimp will help you maximize those efforts. The fact of the matter is that email still proves to be a valuable resource for many people and one of the top ways to get ahold of people is through the services offered through MailChimp.

Main Street Hub
If your small business is quickly growing into something that you can’t manage on your own, than you can use Main Street Hub to help you organize all of your social media content. Main Street Hub starts by doing a social media evaluation of your company, and then provides you with information that is pertinent to the success of your company. Then, as your social media grows, Main Street Hub will help you organize and control all of the new information that you may be coming across.

Just because you own your own business doesn’t mean that you are completely tech savvy. However in today’s day of technologically important resources, using social media is an invaluable part of any small business. Consider the options listed here to help you maximize your efforts and get your message out to as many customers as possible.