Small- and medium-based (SMB) companies are utilizing social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, blogs, YouTube, Twitter and others, for their business operations. IT marketers have discovered the power of these social media to generate sales, a report said.

In a report published by the New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc., an estimated 70 percent of SMBs in the U.S. have incorporated social media into their business models. The report said that while the number of SMBs using social media as a business tool has grown over the last years, there is still little information to fully understand its benefits.

"It's crucial to understand the "Rules of Engagement' when using social media in the SMB space," says Chad Thompson, Vice President of AMI's Marketing Strategy Group. "Although the medium in many cases is new, characteristics of the SMB market haven't changed. Effective use of social media to drive ICT purchases in the SMB space is more science than art; this is what this report helps explain."

Although it has doubled in growth since 2007, social media usage among SMB's remains very narrow in scope.

"The use of social media still proves to be a difficult concept for SMB's to align their business with, in terms of administering the full breadth and depth of the online tools and maximizing their return on marketing investment (ROMI)," said Jacqueline Atkinson, Social Media Manager of AMI-Partners. Only 30% of small businesses perceive social media as strategically important to their continued business success, in contrast to the 61% of medium businesses that do so.

AMI will be launching a series of marketing and go-to-market related studies called AMI's SMB Marketing Optimization Series. This series will include two multi-client studies focusing on social media, best practices to market to SMBs, and assessing SMB's marketing spend. For more information about AMI's SMB Marketing Optimization Series please contact Chad Thompson at cthompson@ami-partners.com.

The countries included in this research are: United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, France, Germany, UK, China, India, Korea, and Australia.