Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by Web Marketing Today. Practical Ecommerce acquired Web Marketing Today in 2012. In 2016, we merged the two sites, leaving Practical Ecommerce as the successor.
Keeping up with small business social marketing techniques and trends can be time-consuming. There are thousands of blogs that you could follow, to get advice. The problem lies in deciding which ones best suit your needs.
Here are nine blogs that I believe qualify as the “best” due to their content, readability, and most importantly, the practical information they provide.
1. Buffer Social Blog
The Buffer Social blog contains helpful strategies for how to market your business on social media. The content is well-researched and offers daily, weekly, and monthly social media checklists, information on what works with social media, and insights into the psychology of what makes content shareable.
Notable Posts:
- These 6 Types of Content Will Boost Your Traffic and Engagement. Here’s How to Do Them Right;
- The Social Media Manager’s Daily, Weekly, Monthly Checklist;
- The Psychology of Social Media: The Deep Impulses That Drive Us Online.
2. Boom Social / Kim Garst
Kim Garst’s Boom Social blog helps small business owners by providing free, professional, and practical social media advice. Her primary focus is on “Social Selling,” which is a way to sell products using social media. Boom Social provides a variety of free downloadable ebooks in addition to the blog.
Notable Posts:
- Top 10 Things You Should Never Post on Social Media;
- Top Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Sales Funnel Using Social Media;
- The Ultimate Cheatsheet for Selling on Social Media.
3. Small Biz Survival
Small Biz Survival is an excellent resource for businesses located in small towns.
The blog, published by Becky McCray, who is herself a business owner, covers various aspects of social media and offers multiple tips on running a successful small-town business.
McCray’s down-to-earth advice is born of her many successes and failures running a liquor store and cattle ranch with her husband. She walks you through how to start and grow your business and covers all areas in-between.
Notable Posts:
- Master your Social Networking Time with this “Inbox Zero” Trick;
- Get Your Marketing Message Out or You’ll Fail;
- Twitter Doesn’t Make Sense.
4. Oh So Pinteresting!
Cynthia Sanchez began using Pinterest in 2011. In 2012, she started Oh So Pinteresting, a blog and podcast dedicated to Pinterest. Sanchez writes about how to use Pinterest to generate traffic, leads, and sales, and stresses the need for small businesses that sell physical products to use the platform.
Notable Posts:
- Three Things you Need for Pinterest Traffic;
- Marketing Differences between Pinterest and Instagram;
- Using Pinterest for a Non-visual Business.
5. Post Planner Blog
Post Planner is a service that helps you find and post content that will increase your social media engagement. Post Planner’s blog consists of tips and strategies that cover all aspects of social media but is aimed primarily at teaching people how to create compelling, engaging content.
Notable Posts:
- 8 Hidden Facebook Features You’re Not Using (but Should!);
- Expert Advice to Build and Grow a Loyal Social Media Community;
- This is How Smart Marketers Use Instagram for Business (and you can too).
6. Small Business Mavericks
Small Business Mavericks, hosted by Caroline Melberg, a marketing expert with more than 25 years of experience, includes an abundance of information that covers not only social media but also small business marketing, web design, search engine optimization, and ecommerce.
Notable Posts:
- Why Social Media is a MUST;
- 9 Social Media Marketing Mistakes You Don’t Have to Make;
- How to Enhance Holiday Marketing with Pinterest.
7. Duct Tape Marketing
Duct Tape Marketing presents practical business advice for small business owners who are watching their bottom line. Started by author and speaker John Jantsch, the blog includes tips on how to market and grow your business online using social media.
In addition to his blog, Jantsch hosts the Duct Tape Marketing podcast, which Fast Company called a “must listen.”
Notable Posts:
- The 20 Minute Social Media Routine for Haters;
- Using Social Media to Generate Sales Leads;
- 5 Ways to Use Social Media for Things You are Already Doing.
8. Hootsuite Social Blog
Hootsuite, a service that helps you manage your social media posts, has a blog containing information about content and social media marketing. The blog, updated several times per day, provides strategies, advice, and tips that small businesses can put to use quickly.
Notable Posts:
- Our Best Facebook Posts and What We Learned From Them;
- Running Your First Social Media Campaign? Use This Checklist;
- How to Use Instagram for Business: A Beginner’s Guide.
9. Rebekah Radice
Rebekah Radice is a speaker and digital marketing specialist, Chief Marketing Officer at Post Planner, and author of “How to Use Social Media to Virtually Crush the Competition.” Her blog focuses on helping you determine why you should use social media, shows you how to create a social media marketing plan, and presents ways to improve the results of your engagement efforts.
Notable Posts:
- 11 Little Facebook Tips That Bring Big Engagement Results;
- 6 Habits of Highly Successful Social Media Marketers;
- How to Create the Perfect Social Media Mix.