A large majority of organisations use Twitter simply as a means of broadcasting corporate messages, according to a study from public relations firm immediate future.

However, the company’s managing director Katy Howell warns that such an approach carries the risk of coming across as self-centred and boring.

“The analysis shows it’s those organisations that participate in the community who gain the most - more followers, more recommendations, more participation and ultimately a greater and more vocal advocacy,” she explained.

Meanwhile, a new study has found that the rate of decline in advertising spending as a whole as eased for the second successive quarter.

The Bellwether report, published by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, also revealed that one in three companies believe their financial prospects improved in the second quarter of the year