LinkedIn is considered by many to be the “professional” social networking site, but it looks like Twitter has quietly become the go-to platform for salespeople looking for connections and clients.

According to a recent study by sales consulting and data research firm KiteDesk, Twitter has pulled slightly ahead of LinkedIn in popularity for salespeople. LinkedIn itself sits just above Facebook in popularity, and all three social media sites lead the pack, with platforms like Google+ and others trailing behind by a significant margin.

“Shocked that Twitter has surpassed LinkedIn,” Jeff Rowley, founder of Jeff Rowley Inc, said in KiteDesk’s report. “That said, I can typically learn more personal things about a buyer on Twitter than LinkedIn — who she follows (business professionals, my competitors & partners, influencers, comedians, politicians, athletes, news outlets, charitable organizations) who follows her, what she tweets about, who she retweets, what lists she’s a member of and subscribes to.”

He added, “I use Twitter to not only research, but ENGAGE. If I believe the content being shared by my buyer is relevant to my network, I will comment, retweet, and potentially favorite. I might share (via Twitter, LinkedIn, or email) a relevant follow-on article, blog post, podcast, eBook, video. I also use Twitter to “attend” events virtually via the event hashtag. It’s all about being where your buyers are: offline, online, #AllTheTime.”

KiteDesk noted that social media can play a big role in making successful sales, and its report found that 69 percent of top sellers – that is, salespeople who exceed their quotas by at least 10 percent – closed one or more deals as a direct result of using social media.

Now that Twitter allows users to opt-in to enable direct messages from non-followers, it has become easier than ever for salespeople to communicate with different businesses and brands. While Facebook’s overall user base vastly outnumbers both Twitter and LinkedIn combined (and then some), it has not become quite as popular with businesses yet.

You can download KiteDesk’s full report on social media and sales on their website.

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