Only 7% of businesses that market online are yet to utilise social media as part of their strategy according to a new survey published.

The study revealed that most marketers devote more than 6 hours per week to social media, mainly for the extra exposure it gives their company. Increased direct traffic from social media sites was cited as the second most important motivating factor. Third was indirect traffic increase gained by improved natural search rankings, with 7 out of 10 questioned stating their intention to use social media for its SEO benefits.

Within social media, video marketing was earmarked as the area where most marketers plan increased investment in the future; 77% pledged to allocate more of their budget to this area in 2011.