The fastest-growing companies in the United States are using social media to achieve a wide range of goals, including to brand build and to generate sales, according to recent research published by The Center for Marketing Research, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.

The report was based on analysis of the social media accounts of the top 500 companies on the 2019 Inc. 5000 list (a ranking of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the US). The researchers also interviewed executives at 109 companies on the list.

Some 94% of the executives interviewed say social media is effective in building brand awareness for their firm, and 84% say social media is effective in generating sales/leads (up from 80% in the previous year's edition of the report).

Top Social Networks

Among the social networks examined, LinkedIn and Facebook are the most used by the top 500 companies on the Inc. 5000 list (87% and 82% of firms, respectively, have a presence on each).

Top Concerns

Some 44% of executives interviewed say they are concerned about the return on investment of their social spend (down from 48% the previous year), and 40% say they are concerned about the amount of resources they are devoting to social media (up from 37%).

About the research: The report was based on analysis of the social media accounts of the top 500 companies on the 2019 Inc. 5000 list (the fastest-growing privately held companies in the US). The researchers also interviewed executives at 109 companies on the list.