I was recently invited to give a presentation to my local Entrepreneurs group here in Biddeford, Maine on how small business can best use Instagram. To gauge where I needed to spend the most time during my talk (and which bits I could zoom through), I asked the crowd how many people were using Instagram to promote their business. Only about a third of the audience raised their hand, correlating pretty closely to those who raised their hand when asked who used in for their personal social networking.

For small business owners, every new social platform you add can feel overwhelming – one more thing added to the never-ending to-do list. It’s often easier to stick with what you know instead of diving into something new. But before you decide what platforms you need and which ones you can ignore for now, it’s important to have an understanding of what each platform is, how it works, and how you might be able to use it to reach your business marketing and brand goals.