Green Bay area businesses bank on social media

A dozen years ago, it was a big deal for businesses to have Web sites. Now, Web sites are a given and it's social media — Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, texting — that business owners are trying to use effectively. The applications are new, but the challenge is the same as it was with the initial Internet presence.

Festival Foods took eight months to develop its social media strategy before launching its first efforts in September. Now the multi-store grocer has a presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and it texts and blogs. It is not alone. An online survey by Leonard & Finco Public Relations found that 67 percent of business responders said they use social media, compared with 56 percent last year.