Indian companies increasingly using social media to win business in 2011

Indian companies have increased their usage of social networks like Facebook, besides blogs, microblogs like Twitter and other on-line fora to win new business in 2011, a survey said.

An increasing number of Indian companies are using social media as an effective business tool with 83% firms in India agreeing that without social media activity, marketing strategies cannot hope to be successful, while globally, 74% companies endorse the view, according to the survey by Regus, a leading office-space solutions provider.

"Around 52% of businesses globally and 64% in India use sites like Twitter and Weibo to engage, connect with and inform existing customers. In India 67% of firms encourage their employees to join social networks such as LinkedIn, Xing and Video, compared to 53% globally. Two-fifths or 39% of companies globally and 49% of Indian companies devote up to 20% of their marketing budgets to business social networking activity," the survey said.

The global Regus survey findings are based on the responses of over 17,000 managers and business owners across 80 countries. In 2010, Regus found that 52% of Indian firms were successfully winning new customers through business social networking activity.

 A year later, the proportion has risen by 9 percentage points to 61%. The research also reveals that globally also more firms are using social media to connect and engage with existing customers than a year ago.

The rising awareness among businesses internationally has seen social networking evolve from a 'nice-to-have' to a necessity.

Around 66% of Indian companies and 61% of global firms also emphasised the need for a balance of marketing media, confirming their belief that without a combination of traditional and digital techniques, marketing campaigns would not work.

"From supply chain management, to leaner working practices, to cloud computing, to increased use of video communications and mobile working, no area of business is being overlooked.

Particularly in India, where Nielsen has reported that three out of four social media users visit a social networking site at least once a day, and a discussion forum once a week; more and more companies are leveraging this channel to increase the loyalty of existing customers, and as a successful acquisition tool," Regus South Asia's regional Vice-President, Madhusudan Thakur, said.