Social media campaigns may seem like an obvious marketing tool but social networks with millions of built-in, active audiences often go under-utilised by small and mid-sized business that don’t always have the time, resources and budget to support them. And when social media is increasingly used by consumers to research, discover and purchase products online -- particularly during the holiday season, why wouldn’t you want to talk to prospective consumers?

Shopify reported ecommerce orders coming from social media in 2014 increased by 202% and data has revealed that 40% of consumers made a purchase (either online or in-store) after favouriting a product on social media platforms.

The true beauty of social promotions is that you don’t need a large budget to establish a presence and gain an audience, giving small medium businesses a level playing with the big guys. Here are some easy social activities you can do to start enjoying the marketing gift that keeps on giving:

• Determine the most relevant social networks for your target audience
• Regularly share your products and branded content using relevant and timely hashtags
• Follow and engage with your users and followers
• Try promoted posts to build your brand
• Experiment with Buy Button offers on sites like Pinterest and Twitter