Social media offers a level field for businesses of all sizes.

However, most of our social marketing talks are restricted to big businesses. Talking solely about big brands and their social strategies defeats the purpose of the existence of such platforms.

These platforms don’t demand huge investments so they make an appealing option for SMEs to gain visibility and drive better results for their website.

Today, let’s talk about some such SME brands with an on-point social strategy:

1. Sevenly

Awarded by Mashable as America’s most social small business, in 2014, Sevenly is an apparel company that works to create awareness and gather funds for the world’s greatest causes.

For every purchase a consumer makes at Sevenly, there is a corresponding donation to charity.

Founded by Chavez and Partidge, the brand connected to its social audience through various Facebook groups. The Facebook page now boasts of 444k likes.

After connecting to users through Facebook, Sevenly then went on to create brand awareness through Youtube influencers.

2. Orabrush 

If we were to look for a small business doing its marketing right, it has to be Orabrush.

Dr. Bob Wagstaff invested in video to create awareness for his innovative tongue brush. The investment was around $500.

And he didn’t stop there. He has a dedicated Youtube channel and this channel now has 176K subscribers.

3. SONIC

When talking about SONIC, #squareshakes campaign cannot be forgotten.

On their Instagram page, SONIC created this campaign and turned everything into a square (from glasses to the cherry on top).

Why square? Because Instagram has a square layout.

The campaign was a huge success as 78% of shakes that were served resulted in an Instagram post and 650M impressions were earned.

4. Easy Lunchboxes

We are completely in love with Easy Lunchboxes’ easy navigation. Also, their Facebook posts give you a visual treat.

The idea behind Easy Lunchboxes was to provide parents with more food options for their children. Kelly Lester found this inspiration after coming across Bento boxes. Her Easy Lunchboxes are now the best selling on Amazon.

Plus her Facebook page boasts of 271k likes.

Here’s a fun fact: Most of her online success happened without any expenditure on advertising.

5. Urban Decay

Urban Decay is utilising Pinterest’s biggest asset: visual appeal.

But that’s not all. With a cleverly organised Pinterest contest which invited people to pin their favorite festival looks, Urban Decay not only gained more than 50k followers but also managed to acquire email addresses (the contest required users to submit their email).

Conclusion

Social success takes different routes on different channels. But a common link that binds all these strategies is the use of visual content. It makes sense as the engagement on social platforms relies largely on visually compelling posts.

And what is even more important is the urgency to highlight the success achieved by SMEs through these channels to inspire more such businesses to create their own social story.

By: Deepasha Kakkar

Deepasha is a visual marketer, founder of Crackitt, and consumer behaviour aficionado. She helps businesses & organisations hone their identities, craft their brands, and share their truths using beautiful handmade animated videos and compelling infographics.