A new study from LinkedIn shows that small to medium businesses are becoming more savvy in their use of social media.

SMEs strut their stuff

The study, Priming the Economic Engine, surveyed 998 SMEs in North America to look at how social media is predicted to drive growth in 2014. And the outlook is good.

LinkedIn found that nine out of 10 SMEs use or plan to use social media, and 68 per cent of these use social to inform financial decisions.

To put those figures into perspective, that translates as 1 million SMEs in North America, and US4$4.5 trillion in potential revenue.

Marketing message

Virtually all (94 per cent) of respondents reported they primarily use social media for marketing purposes, in particular to maintain and promote their brand presence. 

Delivering content, word of mouth advertising and generating new leads were other popular reasons.

Learning curve

Interestingly, close to half of respondents claimed to use social media as a learning tool.

Techniques included asking questions from peers, finding experts in relevant industries and getting recommendations.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the report found that SMEs consider LinkedIn the most trusted source of such information.

To learn more yourself visit slideshare.net.

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