Social Media Becomes Mainstream

Social networking has become a mainstream business tool in Ireland with fully 40% of businesses having successfully used social networks to win new business, reveals a new global survey commissioned by global workspace solutions provider Regus.

Testimony to the faith businesses are now putting in the social networking medium is seen in the fact that 26% of Irish businesses are setting aside a proportion of marketing budget specifically for social networking activities.

The survey revealed that in Ireland 41% of companies plan to devote a proportion of their marketing budget to social networking by the end of 2010. It was also revealed that overall, small companies were a little more likely than average to use social networking. 44% of small companies have successfully acquired new customers through social networking compared to medium companies (36%) and large business (28%).

In our most recent poll we asked you ‘What is the main social media tool that you use for your business, if any?’ The results showed that 97% of people who took the poll were involved in some form of social networking for their business.

The most popular social networking tool for business was shown to be LinkedIn, with 55% of those polled citing it as their primary social media tool. In second place was social media giant Facebook with 25%. The most surprising outcome of the poll was that only 12% of Irish businesses are using Twitter.

We recently interviewed the owners of the Pepper Pot Café, Dervla James and Marion Kilcoyne, about setting up their own business. They told us that both Facebook and Twitter have been hugely helpful. Dervla said that “We got an amazing response on Facebook within the first few weeks.” You can watch the video here.

It can be a bit confusing choosing which social networking tools are right for your business. However, in our newest article – The 6 Pillars of Social Media – Fiona Ashe explains how to choose the right one. Click here to read the article.