Inc. 500's Social Media Use, 2012 vs 2013 [CHART]

Virtually all – 95% – of the 2013 Inc. 500 companies are using at least one major social media tool, according to the latest study from the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. LinkedIn remains the most commonly used platform, by 88% (up from 81%), but there appears to have been a resurgence in the use of Facebook, now used by 84%, up from 67% a year earlier. The study finds some intriguing opinions on the part of execs responding to an accompanying survey.

Of the 118 executives who responded to the survey – who represented 21 of the 22 industries on the list – some 61% felt that there was definitely or probably potential for sales growth for their business directly through Twitter. That outpaced comparable results for Facebook (55%) and Pinterest (31%). But while the headline takeaway from that result is that the Inc. 500 sees the most growth potential for Twitter, the data also needs to be viewed in light of recent survey results suggesting that US brands are primarily using Twitter for brand awareness rather than for sales. Given that, it’s probably not too surprising that executives feel that there’s room for sales growth on the platform. Read the rest at MarketingCharts.