The Business-to-business (B2B) interactions on social networking sites in the GCC region are poised for solid growth in 2013, according to a recently sanctioned survey by the UAE based multilingual social network, dudu.com.

An Increasing number of Internet users are utilising social media to interact with and reach out to brands. Timely responses encourage users to seek out their favourite brands and engage in a conversation. The survey was conducted by YouGov, a leading market research agency in UAE.

Alibek Issaev, the founder & owner of Dudu.com said, "B2B interactions on social networking sites have a different approach than B2C and can be utilised to generate awareness, build thought leadership and strengthen the brand."

Dudu.com, he said, conducted the survey to understand the behaviour of internet users in the GCC.

"As brands begin to explore the potential of their presence on Social Networking sites, the efforts to maintain a constant channel of communication are visible across the board. Communication is personalised, responses are immediate and content shared is tailor-made to suit their target audience," remarked Issaev.

According to the survey, 35 per cent of the internet users in the GCC region use social networking sites for business purposes of which Saudi Arabia represents the highest at 43 per cent.
 
Dudu.com survey revealed that 93 per cent of users in GCC using social networking sites for business purposes found it effective and useful. Kuwait represented the highest in this category at 96 per cent

About 16 per cent of the GCC residents use social networking sites to discuss products, services and brands with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain represent 19 per cent of this category individually.

The survey also found that 55 per cent of the users on social networking sites in GCC were bilingual, 20 per cent trilingual and 9 per cent quadrilingual.

The study was based on a sample of 2,632 respondents from the GCC, 32 per cent of which were locals and 68 per cent expats.

Commenting on the growth, Alibek said, “We are already witnessing the trend of businesses taking multilingual social networks such as dudu.com more seriously to grow their business and the findings from the survey have reiterated the confidence."

"By connecting pages to the translation system we are providing a very selective networking platform for businesses to interact with their niche target audience,” he added-TradeArabia News Service