ONLINE search engines and social media sites have been influencing our communications tools for years, while their impact in the economic field has been more of a slow burn.

The direct impact which social media can have within a business is still largely unknown.

While social media sites such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter are firmly cemented as a means of sharing and communicating online, their reach has yet to gain a firm footing in a wider business context.

However, with approximately 90m daily searches performed on Google, more 190m tweets sent per day, and over 500m active Facebook users, there is no doubt that these sites command a large and powerful user base.

With such an immense scope, the economic effect they could have is surely a vital tool for businesses in all sectors.

And businesses from all sectors are beginning to recognise and harness that user power.

The current quarterly bulletin from the Bank of England shows that they are using Google search trends to help form their view on the economy – theorising that what those 90m people are searching for provides a valuable indicator as to, for example, current trends in the jobs and housing markets. Elsewhere, a recent report shows a 6.6% cut in Coca-Cola’s advertising budget in favour of focusing more on their social media strategy.

And social media platform BzzAgent has recently been acquired by retail giant Tesco.

BzzAgent encourages its volunteers to review real products via their online accounts, generating buzz and so influencing buyer behaviour.

The data that these bzzagents can provide, as to what consumers are looking for, is invaluable to retailers, and Tesco’s purchase will allow them to connect social media and product marketing in a way that will net them real results.

As it is clear that social media is playing an increasing role in influencing what we purchase and how, with messages – positive or negative – able to spread across social networks like wildfire.

As with any marketing strategy, business owners and marketers must think through who your audience is and what you are trying to influence them to do.