By Esther Teo

YOU have just been 'twittered'.

Not by a friend posting short minute-by-minute updates on his day, but by a company 'tweeting' details about its latest promotional offers.

A survey on the usage of social media marketing by Asian businesses found that 72 per cent had a presence on social media platforms such as YouTube or Twitter.

Of these, 79 per cent had a presence on Facebook, which has overtaken blogs as the top platform for social media marketing.

The poll of 100 Asian small- and medium-sized enterprises in five countries, with a majority from Singapore and Malaysia, was conducted by marketing consultancy NetProfitQuest (NPQ).

It found that companies are increasingly using these alternative platforms for public relations and marketing.

In fact, 80 per cent of those polled planned to put a larger proportion of their marketing budget towards social media marketing in the future.

Another 87 per cent of the key marketing managers and executives at these companies already had accounts on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

NPQ co-founder Willy Lim said social media platforms were low-cost, easy to use and had a wide reach.

This levelled the playing field to allow even small businesses to reach a huge number of business prospects effectively, without facing prohibitive costs.

However, he cautioned firms against allowing the use of these outlets to degenerate into spamming - the bane of many Internet users.

He emphasised the need to build relationships by listening, learning, participating and engaging instead. 'A business using hard-sell tactics on social media is like a person asking his girlfriend to marry him on the first date.'

He said firms may have been unable to engage site users effectively, which could explain why companies have faced difficulties in obtaining returns on investments in social media.

Only 12 per cent of firms surveyed reported that more than half of sales inquiries came from online channels.

Business development manager Ruth Saw of boutique spa operator eMedi Spa also identified the task of turning site browsers into buyers as a key challenge in social media marketing.

New to this platform, she set up a company Facebook page only last month. However, she has already seen its potential first-hand with a survey she placed online receiving more than 200 responses in a span of three days.

'We're a boutique spa and do not have a huge marketing budget, so using a platform like Facebook will not cost us much. We also hope to get more referrals through positive reviews,' she said.

Recruitment company Match Resources is jumping onto the social media bandwagon and is planning to set aside 40 per cent of its marketing budget for such platforms.

Managing director Valerie Song plans to have company accounts on Facebook and Twitter up and running within the next six months, citing their ease of use and wide availability as winning points.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.