Increasing number of Indian companies are using social media as an effective business tool with 83 per cent firms in the country agreeing that without social media activity, marketing strategies cannot hope to be successful, according to a survey.

The rising awareness among business internationally has seen social networking evolve from a nice-to-have to a necessity.

Nevertheless, Indian (66 per cent) and global firms (61 per cent) are also emphasising the need for a balance of marketing media, confirming their belief that without a combination of traditional and digital techniques marketing campaigns would not work.

According to a new global survey from leading office-space solutions provider, Regus, the last year has seen a rise in Indian companies using social networks, blogs, microblogs and forums to win new business.

While 83 per cent of Indian firms feel they cannot do without social media activity, the global figure for the same finds 74 per cent of companies around the world in agreement with it.

In 2010, Regus found that 52 per cent of Indian firms were successfully winning new customers through business social networking activity. A year later, the proportion has risen nine percentage points to 61 per cent.

Two fifths (39 per cent) of companies globally and almost half in India (49 per cent) devote up to 20 per cent of their marketing budget to business social networking activity, the survey said.

Fifty two per cent of businesses globally and 64 per cent in India use websites such as Twitter and Weibo to engage, connect with and inform existing customers, it said.

In India, 67 per cent of firms encourage their employees to join social networks such as Linkedin, Xing and Video, compared to 53 per cent globally, it said.

The global Regus survey findings are based on the responses of over 17,000 managers and business owners across 80 countries.