BUSINESSES in Lancashire are being urged to embrace social media.

Networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are a ‘huge opportunity’ to interact with customers, build brands and increase client bases.

Paul Foster, development manager for the Lancashire and Cumbria Federation of Small Businesses, said: “The potential is huge.

"It’s just about harnessing it in the right way and Lancashire business are definitely starting to embrace it.

“Running a small business you don’t have time to do marketing across a variety of formats.

"So businesses need guidance on how to get the best value from it and how it can benefit them.”

The East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce is linking in with Leyland-based marketing and social media specialists KnowledgeBank to put local firms on social networking sessions.

Both Jim and Ed Lawrenson said their KnowledgeBank business embraced the popular sites from an early stage and they were huge advocates of the benefits of social media to industry.

Ed said: “Even if you’ve no interest in social media, it has an interest in you and it is here to stay.

"Your customers are talking about you, your products, your service.

“We enable businesses to understand the basic terminology, establish a presence, use the platform effectively and then to take control of their online profile and build relationships.

Jim said: “For example, if you wanted to find a good tyre fitter, you’d ask your friends.

"Now, you just ask the Twitter community and get instant recommendations.

“And firms can answer direct questions from their customers through Twitter, which is interaction you don’t get with the big brands.

“Social media can be very powerful for businesses and the sooner they embrace it, the more potential they have to engage with customers.

“If you don’t embrace it, you’ll get lost in the market.”

Visit www.knowledge-bank.co.uk for course details.