Small businesses in IT aiming to capitalise on the market in the current climate and in the distant future should consider the power of mobiles and social networking in spreading a company name, it is said.

Constant Contact's senior vice president of global market development Eric Groves said that once people find the perfect balance on exactly which audiences they will work to, things will get a lot easier for such organisations aiming to find a new audience.

He said that while he himself does not enjoy messages coming to his mobile, the correct research could find a valuable resource investment for small businesses working in the IT sector.

Mr Groves added: "There is no doubt that other forms of marketing that leverage technology will play a role in our lives moving forward. The key will be finding the right balance between the media and the expectations of the recipient."

The comments follow last year's survey by the Chartered Institute of Marketing's trends survey, which identified that companies earning below £10 million a year were more confident in marketing than their bigger counterparts.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.