Federal government contracting communities are active and appear to be growing on Twitter and other social media, presenting new opportunities for small business vendors to interact and obtain key information online.

      Twitter currently is one of the fastest-growing social platforms. The company reported 241 million monthly active users in February 2014, up 76% from 138 million in March 2012.

      Nearly 1,000 federal agencies are using Twitter as well, according to Andrew Einhorn, co-founder of the OhMyGov government social media analytics software platform. There currently are 984 federal Twitter accounts, and the number is rising almost daily, he told Set-Aside Alert in an interview.

      “Definitely, Twitter has become more popular with federal agencies,” Einhorn said. “There is growth in use, in the number of postings and in the amount of engagement.”

      There also appears to be increasing federal contractor participation on Twitter, based on anecdotal evidence, Einhorn added, though there are no analytics yet available on that specific group.

      “The contractors are using Twitter for listening and monitoring for opportunities, looking for partners and gathering business intelligence,” Einhorn said.

      Even so, there is a learning curve for Twitter and other social media, and some vendors may be hanging back to avoid making a misstep. But at the same time, they may be missing significant benefits by not joining in, he added.

      About 180 of the larger federal agency Twitter accounts are listed here (http://goo.gl/lK623r). But those are just the tip of the iceberg.

      The General Services Administration alone has 36 Twitter accounts (http://goo.gl/QOFzTm). The Small Business Administration has at least 12. Even a relatively small agency, the US Geological Survey has 65 Twitter accounts (http://goo.gl/Mn2GmD).

      The government’s use of Twitter has been expanding along with its uses of Facebook, LinkedIn, GooglePlus, GovLoop and other social media; websites; mobile applications; and other online tools.

      It is all part of the digital government initiatives of the last several years. The U.S. now ranks sixth in the world for digital government performance, according to a February study by Accenture (http://goo.gl/YDwDBS).

      A 2013 survey of 3,900 federal decision-makers and influencers by Market Connections Inc. explored the government’s use of social media.

      The Federal Media & Marketing Study found that 57% of those surveyed listed Facebook among their top social media sites; 46% listed YouTube; 36%, LinkedIn; 33%, GooglePlus (a new entry in 2013), and 16%, Twitter (marketconnectionsinc.com).

      LinkedIn grew most rapidly two and three years ago, from 10% in 2010 nearly doubling to 18% in 2011, then nearly doubling again to 35% in 2012. But LinkedIn’s growth appeared to have leveled off in 2013, steady at 36%. Similar trends occurred with Facebook and YouTube, which had no growth from 2012 to 2013.

      However, Twitter use grew most rapidly in 2013, from 11% to 16%, Market Connections said in the study. GovLoop usage also grew from 4% to 6%.

      As federal agencies have increasingly moved online, their participation in real-life conferences and travel has fallen, in a possibly related trend, also uncovered in the Market Connections study.

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      In the 2013 survey, 41% attended one to three events, down from 52% in the 2011 survey. The percentage of respondents who attended no events rose from 38% in 2011 to 52% in 2013.

      With government agencies getting a larger footprint in social media, many large and small federal contractors, advocates, law firms and small business owners appear to be joining in.

      A recent review of tweets to the @SetAsideAlert Twitter account showed about 300 incoming tweets per hour related to federal contracting--and that was during the relatively slow midday period. Set-Aside Alert currently follows more than 400 Twitter accounts related to federal contracting, including many run by government agencies and executives, contractor advocacy groups and business owners.

      While no recent public studies have been done specifically on federal contractors and social media, the general trends for small businesses most likely apply, to some degree.

      A recent survey of 998 small and medium-sized businesses found they are aggressively taking advantage of social media tools.

      The study, released last month by LinkedIn, showed that 81% of small and medium-sized businesses are currently using social media to drive business growth. Of those users, 94% reported they are using social media to meet marketing objectives and 49% said they are using social media for learning, including accessing a network of peers and experts and obtaining insights and best practices (http://goo.gl/60c204).

      The LinkedIn study also found a high correlation between fast growth and social media spending: 73% of the fast-growing companies increased their social media spending in the last year, while only 42% of the non-growing companies did, LinkedIn said.

      Of the fast-growing companies, 90% said social media is effective for branding; 88% said it is effective to generate word-of-mouth publicity; 89% said it is effective for content marketing and 82% said it is effective for lead generation.

      Another study of 1,200 small business owners, published by Manta in August 2013, discovered that 49% of the companies had expanded their use of social media in the last year, while 32% reported no change (http://www.manta.com/media/q1_wellness_index_041613).

      Overall, 33% of the owners spent one to three hours a week on social media, while 10% spent more than 10 hours a week.

      Forty percent of the owners reported a positive return on their social media investment, and 30% said the return was $2,000 or more.

      But that survey and other studies also hint at the fact that effective social media participation, while having the potential to generate positive benefits, also has a learning curve and presents some challenges.

      In the Manta survey, 18% said maintaining an active account on Facebook was the most difficult; while 10% named LinkedIn and 9% listed Twitter as the most difficult.