Is your business currently using social media? Because if it isn’t, then it really is time that you did something about it and got in the race – because social media really is the future of the web.

Social media basically encompasses things like Facebook, Twitter and Flickr – they are online services that allow people to communicate, network and ‘connect’ and this way help the flow of communication while at the same time providing some perfect avenues for promoting your business.

However at the same time social media is also more than just connecting with people and marketing – it is also about improving internal communications in businesses and lowering ‘communications overheads’. It can be used to work on collaborative projects, to hire staff and even to create whole new business models like Groupon.

And it’s growing. Fast. Meaning that it’s very much time that you got on the express train. Here are some facts about social media, and why it’s important for you to get involved.

Did You Know…

• 19 million people a day use social networks and social games
• On average they spend 22 minutes each day on these services
• 17% of married couples since 2006 met on online dating sites
• If Facebook was a country and its users made up all of the population, then it would be the 3rd largest country in the entire world just behind China and Russia
• In fact there are more users on Facebook than there are cars in the world (roughly 750 million cars – I’d have thought there’d be more too)
• In July 2011 Twitter had over 150 million unique visitors
• One in every seven minutes that we spend online is spend on Facebook
• Facebook has been seen by at least 55% of the population of Earth
• On Facebook there are 510,000 comments posts every 60 seconds
• 56% of businesses used social networking in 2011 which is up from 56% in 2008
• 1 in 3 small businesses have some kind of presence on social media sites
• On Facebook a whopping 3,500,000,000 items are shared each week
• 56% of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand if they are a fan on Facebook
• 34% of marketers have managed to generate a lead through Twitter
• 29% of Twitter users follow some kind of brand compared to 58% of Facebook users who ‘like’ a brand (and interestingly this includes more women than men on both counts)
• 54% of people who shop on their mobiles have used an AR code
• And 83% of those customers have gone on to scan more codes in the future

What companies also need to be aware of is that Google is now introducing social media as a crucial aspect of its search. This means that you can improve the visibility of your site on Google by using Facebook as a way to get natural inbound links, but that you should also look into using Google’s own social media attempt Google+ which you can now use to promote your site online also, and which you can use to add more information to your listings in the SERPs.

And generally it’s crucial that you look at using all of the social utilities available to you in order to promote your individual pages and articles, but also to connect with potential clients and business partners and to generally market yourself and reach a wider audience. And with search engine rankings being less stable than ever, it is very important now for businesses to look into other avenues for marketing their businesses and generating traffic. As these facts prove social media is big, and it’s only going to get bigger. If you don’t start soon, then you will risk being left behind entirely