Since Internet marketing is less expensive than other mediums, businesses can reduce their advertising expenditures significantly by using social networking as a means of getting their message out to the consumer. In 2012, slightly more than half of businesses took advantage of this opportunity, but that number rose quickly and by 2014 fully eighty-six percent of all businesses had committed some portion of their advertising budget to social media advertising. Nevertheless, there is still much work to be done to convince other businesses of the tremendous opportunity social networking offers.
However, social networking is not restricted to the business/customer relationship alone. Rather, it is an expansive program that allows businesses to spread their wings and venture out into areas where they have never gone before, giving small businesses the potential to become brand names, and brand names to become globally-recognized products.