Small businesses use social media for marketing

Small businesses are increasingly using social media such as Facebook and Twitter to attract new customers.

This new approach to marketing was identified in the 2009 Social Media Survey Report produced by Big Mouth Media and Econsultancy.

According to the survey, 64 per cent of businesses surveyed had tried using social media and 73 per cent of respondents said they had found social media could improve customer engagement.

Israr Sarwar, operations director at internet marketing agency Adrac, said his company used social media sites and that "engaging with social target groups during business and product development can allow companies to robustly test and operate new technologies with a constant stream of ideas and feedback".

Mr Sarwar said the benefit of social media was that it could act as an introduction service rather than a less subtle direct advertising approach.

Facebook and Twitter have both increased significantly in popularity recently. Marketing Vox has reported that Twitter had 900 per cent more visitors last year than in 2008.

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