Business leaders among the Inc 500, an elite group of the nation's fastest-growing private companies, consider social media a central part of their marketing strategy, according to a recent study by the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.

The adoption of social media by the Inc 500 has continued at a brisk pace in 2009 with 91% of these companies reporting they have used at least one social media tool during the year, compared with 77% in 2008.

Social networking and blogging are the most widely used social media tools among the Inc 500: 80% of companies say they have adopted some type of social networking tool in 2009, compared with 49% in 2008; 45% say they have adopted blogging, compared with 39% in 2008.

Twitter, newly added to the 2009 survey, has been adopted by 52% of companies. Meanwhile, the use of message boards, online video, wikis, and podcasting has leveled off or declined.

Equally significant is the proportion of Inc 500 companies that have not adopted social media but intend to do so.

• 44% of companies without corporate blogs intend to develop one.
• 27% of companies that do not use Twitter intend to start.
• 36% of companies that don't use online video intend to start.

Overall Value of Social Media

Asked whether social media has been successful for their business––based on indicators such as website visits, comments, leads, or sales––marketers report that it has: For example, 88% of Inc 500 companies say they have been successful using blogging, 87% say social-networking use has been successful, and 82% say the same of Twitter.

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Communicating With Vendors, Third Parties

One-third of companies (34%) say they use social media tools to communicate with vendors, suppliers, and partners:

• 34% say they use social networking.
• 26% cite Twitter.
• 18% note online video.
• 18% point to blogging.
• 14% say they use message/bulletin boards.

Other Inc 500 Findings

• 44% say social media is very important to their business and marketing strategy, compared with 26% in 2007.
• 68% say they monitor their products and brands online, compared with 60% in 2008 and 50% in 2007.
• 48% use social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to recruit and evaluate potential employees.
• 25% say Twitter is an appropriate vehicle for B2B communications.

About the data: The survey of 148 Inc 500 companies was conducted during October and November 2009 by the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.