Weinhagen Tire Co. in St. Paul needed to attract new customers. Owner Mike Weinhagen had tried traditional advertising — fliers, coupons, direct mailings — but it was more expensive and less effective than he’d hoped.

The company’s bookkeeper, Mike’s 33-year-old daughter-in-law Marjorie Weinhagen, suggested they give social media a try.

“He’s kind of old-school, so it wasn’t a priority to him,” Marjorie Weinhagen said. “But it just seems like it’s the way my generation communicates.”

In a little less than a year after being put in charge of the company’s Facebook page, Marjorie Weinhagen has grown its following to a modest 120 people — but they’re a loyal bunch, she says. And they’ve become regular customers, often making appointments for tire rotations and oil changes via Facebook message.

Given its popularity, it would seem social media marketing on sites like Facebook would be essential; yet small businesses like Weinhagen Tire have been slow to fully embrace it.

But they should, says Tom Donovan, digital manager at Haworth Marketing + Media in Minneapolis.

THE PRICE IS RIGHT?

For one thing, it’s free. And that can make a big difference to a small business. It also provides businesses a way to communicate directly with potential customers in real time — which is next to impossible with traditional marketing.

And, if used right, it can provide some level of market research that goes beyond just knowing one’s regular customers.

But Donovan acknowledges many small-business owners doubt social media’s ability to have a measurable impact on their revenue. Others balk at the time investment — which is not free.

“It’s not like some of the other types of advertising where you can kind of set it and forget it,” Donovan said. Social media takes management. But so do employees, suppliers and payroll, etc.

There’s always the possibility of hiring someone to manage a business’s social media, but that takes money.

While Donovan acknowledges these concerns aren’t entirely unfounded, he argues that there are simple steps business owners can take to maximize the impact of their social media efforts while minimizing the drain on their time.

Most importantly, business owners wading into social media should begin by outlining a couple of specific goals, he said.

“It’s not one size fits all,” Donovan said. Success depends on “clearly defining what they’re hoping to get out of it. What does success look like?”

Weinhagen Tire’s goal was to save money and to reach a demographic that wasn’t accessible through more conventional types of marketing.

BEYOND FACEBOOK

Donovan says it’s also important to figure out where your potential clients are spending their time. Become active on those specific social networks rather than wasting time and effort on platforms where your posts won’t be seen by the right people.

For Bellagala, a St. Paul-based wedding services provider, that meant a Pinterest account. Since it launched in 2010, picture-posting site Pinterest has become a go-to resource for wedding planning, says Emily Gorg, Bellagala’s marketing coordinator.

“I’ve heard brides say, ‘How do you plan a wedding without Pinterest?’ ” Gorg said.

She said Pinterest is ideal for posting photos of weddings taken by Bellagala photographers — one of their best-selling services.

Networks like Pinterest and Facebook are great for reaching consumers, Donovan said, but they’re not ideal if you’re a business-to-business company. In that case, he suggests LinkedIn.

“It has to do with what type of data you’re looking to use,” he said.

While Facebook knows a lot about its users’ favorite movies and hobbies, LinkedIn gathers information about its users’ occupations — useful for a business like Donovan’s, whose clients are other companies.

Once you’ve found your audience, the next step is to reach out to them. It’s not enough to simply have a profile.

Neal Kielar, owner of St. Paul retro furniture store MidModMen, recommends setting aside a little time each day to post to your company’s social media accounts. But he warns not to overdo it.

“It’s pretty demanding,” he said. “But you have to be careful not to spread yourself too thin.”

During the week, he works full time as a content strategist for a television production company — MidModMen is open only on Saturday and Sunday — but Kielar says he’s able to set aside about 10 hours each week managing the store’s Facebook page.

Kielar schedules posts in advance to avoid scrambling for ideas later on. This can be done with the clock icon in Facebook’s status box, but Twitter users will need to use an app like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite.

Matt Dunn, who manages the website and social media accounts of Minneapolis record store The Electric Fetus, saves time by linking the store’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, so posts on one platform show up on both.

KNOWING THE AUDIENCE

More important than when you post is what you post. Followers are often turned off by endless promotions and special offers, Dunn says. He breaks up promotional posts with Rolling Stone articles and local concert announcements.

“Every day is trial and error,” Dunn said.

Gorg recommends supplementing trial and error with data. Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+ all have native analytics tools that help you see what’s working and what’s not — a kind of rudimentary market research.

Marjorie Weinhagen posts a weekly car care tip, advising followers how often they should have their alignment checked and how to ensure tires are properly inflated.

Finally, the “social” in social media can’t be overemphasized, Donovan says. Many companies simply post without paying much attention to responses from their followers.

Marjorie Weinhagen makes it a point to respond to everyone who posts on her company’s timeline and says followers appreciate it — although she expects such attention will become more difficult as the page gains followers.

Social media is constantly evolving, and there are wrong ways to do it, Gorg says. This can be intimidating for businesses that are new to the concept.

But there is help out there: Gorg recommends seeking out online social media marketing tutorials and local workshops. Social Media Breakfast — Minneapolis/St. Paul is a good place to start, Donovan said. With a little research and forethought, small-business owners can make social media an invaluable tool.

“If you’re not on social media as any type of business, I think you’re missing out,” Gorg said. “It’s becoming a real engagement tool, but people are still trying to figure it out.”

Nick Woltman can be reached at 651-228-5189. Follow him on Twitter at @nickwoltman.