Study shows social media adds trillions to the economy

According to a recent study conducted by McKinsey, social technologies are expected to potentially contribute $900 billion to $1.3 trillion in annual value to the economy.

The news from McKinsey is sure to be a welcome outlook for the recently troubled economy and small businesses that have begun using social media as a way to expand and become more visible in a society that is fueled by social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

The study reported that two-thirds of the potential value will come from improving collaboration and communication across enterprises, which was recently made evident by Microsoft's acquisition of Yammer and Salesforce.com's purchase of Radian6.

"While 72 percent of companies use social technologies in some way, very few are anywhere near to achieving the full potential benefit," the study reported. "In fact, the most powerful applications of social technologies in the global economy are largely untapped. Companies will go on developing ways to reach consumers through social technologies and gathering insights for product development, marketing, and customer service."

According to The Huffington Post, the increase in social media presence will be a great source of job creation in the economy.

More than a billion users around the world utilize social networks, and more companies are beginning to catch on to the trend. Forbes recently reported that 94 percent of all businesses with a marketing department are now utilizing social media in order to improve small business marketing and almost 60 percent of marketers are devoting the equivalent of a full work day to social media marketing development and maintenance.