The role of social media continues to grow at SMBs

4/26/2011

According to a survey conducted by American Express OPEN, nearly half of small businesses use social networks to interact with prospective customers and existing clients, up significantly from 2009 when only about 10 percent did.

This is why American Express OPEN has teamed up with Facebook to provide entrepreneurs with information on how to properly leverage the social network for business purposes. American Express is flying five small business owners to Facebook's headquarter where they will learn how to successfully start and manage a marketing campaign on the social network.

These one-on-one sessions will also be recorded so businesspeople from across the world can learn more about establishing a Facebook presence.

"Facebook is committed to the success of small businesses," said Adele Cooper, director of global customer marketing and communications at Facebook. "Using Facebook, a business can find new customers, let their customers recommend and share information about their business and create loyalty by hosting an ongoing two-way conversation."

Facebook is home to more than 500 million consumers, making it a broad-reaching marketing platform.