Twitter and the iPhone may seem to dominate attention in the media lately, but for incentive industry buyers, LinkedIn is the No. 1 social media site of choice, edging out Facebook, while BlackBerry tops Apple and Nokia devices.

Following its May 2010 show in Frankfurt, Germany, IMEX surveyed more than 1,000 hosted buyers for their views on increasingly popular social media tools, industry blogs, and Smartphone usage, both as professional meetings and event management tools and as networking channels.

At least 625 respondents answered the social media questions and confirmed their preference for LinkedIn (64 percent) as an online networking site, followed by Facebook (60 percent), Twitter (27 percent), and YouTube (23 percent).

While 46 percent of respondents also confirmed an increase in the use of social media for networking during the past six months, 32 percent felt it had remained about the same, while 44 percent agreed that "there are too many social media and networking sites to keep up-to-date with."

Eighty-three percent of respondents still do not regularly follow an industry blog.

As for cell phone trends, 57 percent of respondents use a smartphone, and of those 47 percent carry a BlackBerry, followed by 31 percent on Apple iPhones, and 24 percent using Nokia devices.

These new findings show a rapid acceptance and usage of the new tools for business purposes, and contradict November 2009 responses to the IMEX Global Insights Poll, where survey participants revealed frustration with social media, just 22 percent used social media for their businesses at that time, and only another 22 percent wanted to use it.

"As a truly international show with a good cross-section of buyers from across Europe, the United States plus the 'BRICs' countries of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, it is interesting to observe the rapid growth of marketing channels such as YouTube and realize how far it has come as a credible, global communications channel that's open to all," said Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group.

"The growth of social media in different world markets creates both enormous pressures and provides international businesses such as ours with fantastic opportunities. The discipline for all of us is to pay careful attention to where the value truly lies for each of our different audiences and never to assume that a one-size solution fits all," continued Bauer.

Nathan Egan, founder and CEO of Freesource, a social media consulting firm based in Philadelphia, agrees: "Your brand is so important and the [social media] space is so new, that companies shouldn't jump into it. They need to study it, learn it, then develop a social media strategy."

A good strategy is one that is designed to meet business objectives, says Egan, who used to work for LinkedIn. "It's not 'We need the most number of Facebook fans or tweets or followers or a blog with x number of comments.' It should instead be 'Grow revenue by 10 percent the next two years.'" This page is protected by Copyright laws. Do Not Copy