We’ve been out and about speaking to businesses in the UK and it’s official – Twitter’s helping small UK businesses communicate like never before!

Out of the 500 small businesses we surveyed, 17% are using Twitter with more than a quarter signing up in the last week alone. Using these figures we estimate that over 700,000 small businesses could now be using Twitter, sending nearly three million tweets a day!

Twitter has been providing UK small businesses with a range of benefits, including cost cutting, marketing and recruiting new staff. This has meant nearly a third of the small businesses we spoke to have saved up to £1,000, while one in ten saved up to £5,000. Meanwhile over a quarter found that staying in touch with other small businesses helped boost their confidence, while one in ten of them has up to 100 followers.

Simon Devonshire, Head of Small Business Marketing at O2 comments: “The way small businesses are using Twitter is a great example of how the community is embracing new technologies in order to adapt and survive in the current economic climate. The increase in small businesses using converged devices such as the iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones combined with the simplicity of Twitter represents a fantastic opportunity for businesses to further raise their profiles and increase efficiency.”

Journalists can contact the Virgin Media O2 press office on:
press@virginmediao2.co.uk 01753 565656
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