Business social networking doubles – but still untapped gold mine

The research, which examined how small businesses market themselves, how they network and the technology they use to do so, found that 15% of companies are now promoted on social networking sites compared to just 7% at the beginning of the year*. The survey revealed that start-up companies log on the most, with one in five (22%) using social networking sites, compared to just one in ten home-based (13%) and growing businesses (11%). The research also revealed that whilst the majority of companies are aware of the benefits of online marketing, just over half have a company website (52%) and over a fifth of businesses (22%) do no marketing at all. Mick Hegarty, head of bttradespace.com said: "More and more businesses are starting to use social networking platforms to win and attract new customers.