Social media marketing is a great way to build your brand and increase exposure for your business for free. Use your logo design as your profile image across the social web to boost recognition and recall for your brand, and be sure to publish content that your target audience will find useful. Avoid direct selling. Instead, focus on building relationships that can lead to sales, and always make sure your content matches your brand image and promise.

Show Off Your Logo on these Social Media Sites

Here are 10 free social media sites where you can create a free profile or page branded with your logo design, and start indirectly marketing your products and services. Most only take a few minutes to set up!

1. Facebook Page

Facebook Pages are used by brands, companies, organizations, and celebrities. Over 850 million people around the world use Facebook, so it’s a great place to put down online roots and join the conversation.

2. Google+ Company Page

Google+ introduced its Company Page feature late in 2011. Considering that Google+ content affects Google’s social discovery search results, this is an important place for your brand to be represented.

3. LinkedIn Company Page

LinkedIn is the most popular social networking site for professionals. Guess what? Professionals are consumers, too. Whether yours is a business-to-consumer or business-to-business brand, you should claim your space on LinkedIn.

4. Twitter Profile

Twitter is incredibly popular, and it’s a great place to interact with people in 140-character or fewer tweets. Get your brand’s Twitter username before someone else takes it. There is little recourse if someone else takes your brand name for his or her Twitter profile first.

5. Flickr Profile

Flickr is the most popular photo uploading and sharing site. It’s also a great place for you to spend time to boost brand awareness.

6. YouTube Channel

Even if you’re not creating online videos for your brand right now, set up a free YouTube Channel so you can claim your brand name and show off your logo design.

7. Pinterest Profile

Pinterest is a rapidly growing visual social bookmarking tool. Users pin images and videos that they find and like online to virtual pinboards. They can like, comment, and repin each other’s content. They can also follow each other’s pinboards or profiles. Set up your Pinterest account and start pinning content.

8. Tumblr

Tumblr is a cross between a blogging application and a microblogging tool. Use it to publish and share images, videos, audio clips, quotes, and text in a reverse chronological archive. The Tumblr community is very active!

9. Brand Blog

Create a blog for your company or brand using a blogging application such as WordPress.org, WordPress.com, or Blogger.com and create your central social location online. You control your blog, so have fun!

10. Forums and Message Boards

Search for online forums and message boards where your target audience is likely to spend time. Create profiles on those forums and message boards and use your logo design as your profile image (often called an “avatar”). That image displays with every comment you submit to the forum or message board.