Not privy to the wealth of resources of their larger counterparts, many small- and medium-sized businesses must look for more affordable options to promote their company.

Not privy to the wealth of resources of their larger counterparts, many small- and medium-sized businesses must look for more affordable options to promote their company. Thanks to the rise of social media, SMBs now have access to a marketing tool that can even the playing field with larger companies.

According to a recent Business Insider report, the three main marketing tools for SMBs have traditionally been email, advertising and mobile. But with the growing popularity of social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, social media is also emerging as an effective, yet affordable marketing tool for SMBs.

The news provider noted that social media can optimize an SMB's marketing strategies, especially when coupled with email marketing. (Plus, Brafton reported just yesterday that email marketing is still a top performing marketing channel in terms of ROI.)

Not only can social media be used as a means of sharing online promotions and product informaiton, it can also serve as a platform for customer discussion – thus, generating enthusiasm through word-of-mouth marketing techniques.

However, SMBs are not limited to the “big three” social networks – Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn – when deploying social media marketing campaigns. As a recent Small Business Trends report pointed out, SMBs can also leverage industry-specific networks and even create their own blogs to generate greater buzz about their business.