More than 80% of SMEs recommend Twitter for business

Companies across Britain and Ireland have embraced Twitter as a powerful way to connect with their customers and grow their businesses. Now new research*, conducted by Nielsen (@Nielsen), shows just how powerful Twitter is for smaller firms. The results are compelling.

Perhaps the highest endorsement of any service comes in answering the question: would you recommend it to others? On this point an overwhelming 83% of business users say they would recommend Twitter to other small to medium size enterprises (SMEs).

The research highlights how Twitter is now an everyday business tool for thousands of UK SMEs that use it for marketing, sales, and customer service, for starters. Increasingly UK businesses use it to advertise as well, following the opening of our self-serve ad platform in the UK and Ireland.

The @Nielsen study underlines why so many SMEs are willing to endorse Twitter. It found that 72% of surveyed business users say Twitter is important to their marketing strategy, and has positively affected their bottom line.

It does this by addressing the biggest goals for any business, to get noticed and drive sales: 56% of SMEs surveyed say that their use of Twitter drives website traffic.

The overarching message from the 100 SMEs* who responded is that using Twitter is a valuable and productive business experience:

1. 69% say Twitter is a valuable tool for business
2. 72% are satisfied with their use of Twitter
3. 70% say using Twitter is a productive use of company time

Our ability to deliver on these business goals highlights how the platform can make a daily difference to SMEs. A key reason for that success with UK SMEs is Twitter’s simplicity: 93% of those surveyed say the platform easy to use.

All of this means Twitter is becoming increasingly important to SMEs. More than two thirds of respondents (68%) told @Nielsen that they expect their investment in time spent using Twitter to increase over the coming 12 months.

If you’re a small business in the UK and Ireland, head to business.twitter.com tips and for best practices.

*The study comprised 100 SME employees involved in tweeting and managing their company’s Twitter account.