The aim of the paper titled "Social media as a marketing tool for small businesses" is to prove the importance of the presence of small businesses on social media platforms, based on the example of a small business Osijek ZOO. Furthermore, the purpose of this paper is to prove that there is an existing place in the market as well as a need for creating social media presence for the Osijek ZOO, which is believed to have a positive impact on brand awareness which could then increase the number of visitors. As a theoretical basis for the stated aim and purpose, collected data consists of various researches on the importance of social media in today's business climate as well as the case of Social Media Storm of the Copenhagen Zoo. A survey, with 531 respondents, was conducted and the results showed that most respondents would prefer to be informed about the news of the Osijek ZOO through social media platforms, which supports the previous theoretical basis and lays the groundwork for creating a marketing plan for social media for the Osijek ZOO. Having considered the theoretical basis and the results of the conducted survey, a marketing plan for placing the Osijek ZOO on social media was created, with the end goal of ensuring an advantage over competitors and strengthening the brand image in order to increase the annual number of visitors. It is believed that, with proper and meaningful use, the activity on social media platforms can help distinguish a small company among direct, indirect and potential competition or in other words, the non-activity can harm the performance of a small businesses, in this particular case, the Osijek ZOO.