SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in Smartbrief on Social Media — tracks feedback from leading marketers about social media practices and issues. Paul Chaney, Internet marketing director for Bizzuka, author of “The Digital Handshake,” and member of the SmartBrief on Social Media Advisory Board, helps create the questions and analyzes the results. We run the poll question each Wednesday in our e-newsletter and feature Paul’s analysis on this blog.

Last week’s poll question: Inc. magazine recently reported that 91% of Inc. 500 companies are using social media. Does it surprise you that the percentage is so high?

• Not surprised. Social media is becoming a must-have. 63%
• I’m surprised. I would have thought the number to be much lower. 33%
• No opinion. 4%

“I admit to being taken aback by the margin in this week’s poll, especially considering the low percentage of large companies that incorporate blogs, even among the Inc. 500. It is a key indicator that social media is indeed becoming mainstreamed. For example, it’s not unusual to visit a corporate Web site and see links to their Facebook and Twitter sites. The main thing is that, in one form or another, large corporations are adopting social media into their marketing and business communications framework.” –Paul Chaney

Related posts:

1. Why we tweet
2. Finding social media’s “type”
3. E-mail’s enduring appeal