Social may democratize the marketing landscape, but big businesses still have the upper hand in terms of best-practices, simply because they have more resources to devote to new media.

What's a smaller marketer to do to keep pace in the social space? Here's some help.

Brad Smith, in a post at Social Media Today, offers a list of five lessons "small" businesses can learn from the big guys:

Start with the end in mind. Ensure your goals dictate your social media activities. There are three ways social can help your business:

• Increasing brand awareness by building reach
• Building customer loyalty via engagement and support
• Increasing sales by driving more purchases, more frequently

Pick a goal and prioritize it. American Express organizes its social media efforts around customer service.

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