41% of UK companies use social media for acquisition

Fresh global research from workplace provider Regus has revealed that a significant 41% of businesses leverage social media to win new business. This marks an 8% rise from last year’s research, and backs up Hubspot’s recent research.

Findings such as these make it clear that social media marketing can no longer be viewed as a fluffy add-on to traditional marketing activities, but is a necessity.

In the UK, 66% of those polled agreed that without social media their marketing activities “cannot hope to be successful”. Globally, this figure rises to 74% – suggesting that UK business is still playing catch up with its international counterparts with regards to perceptions of social marketing.

That said, a third (33%) of UK businesses now devote up to 20% of their total marketing budget to social media. This figure neatly reflects the fact that one in three UK social network users is now a fan, follower or friend of a company page or profile.

While Regus found that more companies are using social media to connect and engage with existing customers, which is good news, it’s particularly positive to learn that British companies are using social networking activity to actively seek out and win new business.

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