Social Media Growing in Use and Benefits

Social media has received a lot of attention lately and does it deserve it?
Well, according to a social media study by Michael Stelzner for the Social Media Success Summit 2009, the answer is YES!

In this study, most marketers say they are now using some form of social media to market their business, with Twitter leading the way.
In this study, 88% reported using some form of social media with 86% saying they are using Twitter. The other top three are: Blogs (79%), LinkedIn (78%) and Facebook (77%). YouTube was a distant fifth at 41% usage. What this also indicates is that many marketers are using multiple (3-4) forms of social media.

Although social media use is high, it is relatively new. Most (72%) of the marketers in the study said they had been using social media only a few months or were just getting started.

Usage is high, but what's been the results?
Well, the results appear to be positive also. Again, most (81%) said that social media had generated exposure for their business, with a majority reporting increased traffic, new business and increased position in search rankings.

Going forward, these marketers had the most interest in learning more about social bookmarking and Twitter.

This survey reinforces that there is a lot going on with social media: more are using them and the are getting results.
So, what do you think of this? Is this what you are doing or plan on doing?

If you have any questions about social media and how it could work for you, please contact me at Beltrame Leffler Advertising at 317-916-9930 or fbingle@bladv.com.