More brands are using social networking to win new business: 43% of US companies say they are successfully using social networks to find new customers, up 8 percentage points from the 35% that reported doing so a year earlier, according to a survey from Regus.
Brands worldwide are also achieving greater success with social networking: 47% of companies worldwide say they are using social media to find new business, up 7 points from the 40% that reported doing so in July 2010.
Below, other findings from the 14-country survey of senior managers and business owners, conducted by Marketing UK for Regus.
Impact on Revenue, Profits
Companies that use social networks to acquire new business are roughly 11% more likely to report increased revenues and profits than those that don't use social channels to find new business.
For example, one-half (50%) of US companies using social networks to acquire new business registered revenue increases in the previous year, compared with 39% of those not using social channels to win new business.
Similarly, 43% of US companies using social networks to acquire new business recorded increased profits, compared with 32% of those not using social channels to win new business.
Similar results were found for companies outside the US: 44% of companies worldwide that use social network to acquire new business report increased profits in the previous year, compared with 39% of those not using social channels to win new business.
Other key findings:
- 69% of US businesses (74% worldwide) say social networking is an essential activity for business success.
- Single-channel campaigns are less successful: 64% of US businesses (61% worldwide) say companies that only use social networking and online campaigns, and ignore traditional media/techniques, will be unsuccessful.
- 50% of US businesses (52% of businesses worldwide) use social networks to interact with and to inform existing customers, virtually unchanged since 2010.
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Social Media Budgets
Dedicated social media budgets are on the rise:
- 34% of companies worldwide actively devote marketing budget to social networking (vs. 27% in 2010).
- 35% of companies worldwide (35% in US) are devoting an increasing proportion of marketing budget to business social networks.
- 39% of companies worldwide (38% in US) are devoting up to 20% of marketing budget to social marketing.
About the data: Over 17,000 respondents (primarily of senior managers and owners) from the Regus global contacts database were interviewed during February 2011, from businesses across the globe. The survey was managed and administered by Marketing UK on behalf of Regus.
