Midsize enterprises Learn more about social media than small businesses

Nearly 70% of US small businesses use social media including MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and blogs, according to reports from the market research firm AMI.

Despite the rapid increase in the number of small businesses using social media in the past few years, the industry's understanding of the reasons why small businesses use real social media is still limited, the report said. And the industry has little to learn about how to influence small businesses through social media. Only about 30% of small businesses realize that social media play an important role in the sustainable development of enterprises. Medium-sized Enterprises that are aware of this problem account for about 61%.

"Social media is a difficult concept for small businesses," says Jacqueline Atkinson, a social media business manager for AMI. Chad Thompson, vice president of marketing Strategy Group for AMI, says understanding the "rules of engagement" is critical for small businesses using social media.

Prior to the AMI study, more than half of American family-run businesses use social media, product-oriented forums and blogs to communicate and promote business with customers. Home-sector companies are becoming increasingly aware that the Web site is an important tool for increasing market share and revenue, so the American family-style business that built the site last year grew dramatically.