Let’s face it—with the power of social media and the very finicky tastes and opinions of the public, your audience and the social media world has more control over the image of your brand than you do. This might make some business owners run for the hills. But if you’re social media savvy and confident in your brand, you can actually make this work to your advantage.

Why spend tons on marketing when you can spend extremely little to have social media users spread the good word for you?

It’s much easier than you may think. Let’s go over a hypothetical situation so you can get the idea.

Let’s say you’re a new athletic apparel manufacturer. You follow people that tend to start conversations about sports apparel on Twitter. Let’s say you notice that one or two people specifically talk about shopping online for sports apparel for specific teams. There is nothing stopping you from reaching out to them and telling them that you can offer them 25% off of their purchase if they check out your website or online catalog.

You can also do this by sending out a tweet to all of the people you follow. If someone retweets you, take note. Thank them publicly via Twitter and send them a coupon or a discount that only applies to them. Chances are pretty good you’ll get a shout out on Twitter for your generosity and awesome apparel.

The same goes for blogs. If you can find someone that blogs about sports apparel and seems ot know what they are talking about, look for their contact information on their site. Send them a freebie through the mail—what you think is your strongest item—with a simple note saying that you enjoy their blog and would like to thank them with the item. Again, here’s another good chance at getting exposure that cost nothing remotely close to what full-fledged marketing efforts would cost.

Remember that public opinion on social media can make or break you. Give them a reason to talk about you and do everything you can to make sure it’s in a positive light.