If there’s one thing that National Small Business Week has taught us is that there are more social media tools available that just Facebook. If you haven’t made the move to using social media as a part of your day-to-day marketing plan, you really need to. But don’t just create a profile and forget to establish yourself, and your brand by providing regular content.

For this reason alone, it is best to take advantage of the other social media tools available to companies besides Facebook and Twitter. If you are looking to really give yourself a presence online then you may want to take a closer look at three top apps: Vine, Instagram, and Pinterest. Not only are these apps great social media tools, they are easy to use, addictive, and growing in popularity as discussed in this article.

Users are quickly identifying with the way these platforms allow endless loops of visual aids to be shared. If you are familiar with Twitter than you will see a lot of comparisons with its app, Vine. Both are channels that allow users to post quick hits. Where Twitter uses words, Vine gives you the ability to share looping video clips up to six second long. These quick loops can be created as a short film or stop-motion animation.

You need to be sure that your message translates well to a visual element. For example, quick shots of a pile of mulch surrounding a tree as it is watered and grows is a great way to establish different aspects of what your company does. Fun, around the office videos do well on this medium, too. If you are just starting out it is important to tie in what it is that your company does and how you do it.

If you haven’t already figured it out, social media tools are allowing us to make better connections with our customers. In order to do this successfully, we need to be more human. These three platforms allow us to do that. Instagram offers a snap shot into the life of you and your company.

You simply take a photo, filter it, and share on a variety of platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or your newly established Instagram profile. By applying hashtags to your Instagram photos you can pinpoint your location and grow your targeted audience. Instagram is great for those pictures of fun potlucks at the office, an impromptu meeting out on the deck or celebrating an employee’s anniversary with cake and ice cream.

Now if you’ve mastered having fun with Instagram and Vine you should definitely move on to Pinterest. This is probably one of the most addictive social media tools out there right now. It’s a bulletin board that allows you to organize your content and photos to illustrate your goods and services. It’s a great tool that lets you actively participate in the creative world of your business and your customers.

Pinterest not only gives you the opportunity to “pin” your own items but items and content that is aesthetically pleasing will get re-pinned, generating your brand all over again. Creating a team to encourage pinning and re-pinning and adding hashtags will ultimately bring viewers back to your site and generate traffic and revenue.

If these new social media tools are a bit overwhelming, they don’t have to be. Contact us to learn more about leveraging these three channels to increase your brand recognition and establish your company on some of the most popular mediums out there.