The last year has seen a rise in U.S. companies using social networks to win new business, reveals a new survey from Regus, the global provider of flexible workplace solutions. According to the survey, 43 percent of firms are successfully using social networking to win new customers, up eight percentage points from last year's survey.

The research also reveals more firms are using social media to engage with existing customers than a year ago, with the following highlights:

- 50 percent of businesses in the U.S. use websites such as Twitter to engage, connect with and inform existing customers

- In the U.S., 55 percent of firms encourage their employees to join social networks such as LinkedIn and Xing

- 38 percent of U.S. companies dedicate up to 20 percent of their marketing budget to business social networking activity

- Globally, the survey reported a seven percent increase in the proportion of businesses successfully recruiting new customers through social networks such as Facebook

Social networking has fully evolved from a nice-to-have to a necessity as the majority of businesses in the U.S. (69%), and internationally (74%) agree that social media activity is playing a bigger role in their marketing strategy. U.S. (64%) and global firms (61%) are also emphasizing the need for a balance of marketing media, confirming their belief that without a combination of traditional and digital techniques, marketing campaigns will not work.