SMEs use Twitter to cut costs

Social networking, relationship marketing, LinkedIn, Facebook, Bebo, and now Twitter. As the traditional forms of advertising are in rapid decline (in the news today is the 1,000 job cut at The Daily Mail group) so new ways of promoting your business are appearing. According to an article in Computer Weekly last week, SMEs are using Twitter to cut costs.

An O2 survey suggests that more than 700,000 small and medium businesses are using Twitter to save on marketing and recruitment costs. “O2 estimated Twitter users were saving up to £5,000 on marketing and recruitment costs. Cost saving was mentioned by 62% of respondents as the main benefit, the firm said. More than one in ten (16%) said they had saved up to £5,000 since signing up to the service. Nearly a third have saved up to £1,000.”

This is interesting stuff – using new technologies to adapt and survive is a tactic for all businesses – large and small, which is why you’ll see that Microsoft Small Business has also joined the network – find us here https://twitter.com/MicrosoftSb - and follow! We’ll be pointing out news and resources for SMEs in just 140 characters – quite a challenge but great when you’re pressed for time.