• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, October 25, 2012

Europe’s business movers and shakers are embracing social media in a big way, according to a new survey by CNBC titled “Europe’s Mobile Elite 2012.”

In the CNBC survey 69% of European execs agreed that “it’s important for businesses to integrate social media into marketing and business plans,” and 87% reported being a member of at least one social network -- compared to 74% in 2011 and 60% in 2010. Facebook led the way, with 60% of respondents saying they’re a member, followed by 45% for LinkedIn and 38% for Twitter. Among Twitter users, 80% said they use it to “follow the insights of senior business figures or investment strategists;” that proportion is up from 61% in 2011.

Asked where they use social media, 69% of European execs said they access social sites on the go via mobile devices, compared to 61% in 2011 and 55% in 2010; meanwhile 75% of those surveyed said they access social media in the workplace, up from 55% in 2011. But home was still the most popular locale for accessing social media, at over 90%.

In terms of device ownership, the proportion who reported owning an iPhone jumped from 21% in 2011 to 41% in 2012 (CNBC notes that this was before the launch of iPhone 5). The proportion who reported own an Android device also doubled from 14% in 2011 to 28% in 2012. Despite its woes in the U.S., Blackberry is still going strong in Europe, albeit with a slower growth rate, increasing from 20% in 2011 to 23% in 2012.

Much larger increases were seen in tablet ownership, with the proportion of execs who reported owning an iPad almost tripling from 15% in 2011 to 42% in 2012; meanwhile Android ownership more than tripled from 5% in 2011 to 17% in 2012.