![Top Promotional Strategies For Increasing Sales, March 2015 [CHART]](https://trends.e-strategyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/UMassDartmouth-Inc500-Promotional-Strategies-Driving-Sales-Mar2015.png "Chart - Top Promotional Strategies For Increasing Sales")
Asked which of several promotional strategies they feel has the most potential to help increase sales, 46% of executives surveyed from the 2014 Inc. 500 cited online advertising, easily outpacing business directory listings (17%), traditional print/broadcast media (13%) and social media platforms (13%). With regards to social media, the study finds that LinkedIn is the platform of choice, used by 94% of the Inc. 500 (up from 88% last year), ahead of Facebook (80%, down from 84%) and Twitter (79%, up from 74%). Survey respondents were more likely to see the potential for sales growth directly through Facebook (55%) than Twitter (50%) or Pinterest (25%). For the time being, though, these platforms are estimated to account for just a tiny fraction of annual sales: 71% of respondents estimated that 5% or less of their total annual sales come through Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Almost 1 in 5 don’t know. Source: Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
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