Sixty-three percent of defined contribution retirement plan sponsors are using social media to communicate with account holders, says a new survey by Cogent Research.

The use of social media, including Web sites and blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, You Tube and Twitter, is strongest among mid-sized plan sponsors, who represent plans with total assets of $20 million to $100 million. Among this group, 77 percent use some form of social media, with Web sites or blogs being the most popular and LinkedIn being the second most popular.

The use of social media was lower among plan sponsors with higher asset levels. For those plan sponsors, representing plans with more than $100 million in assets, half use social media, Cogent says.

“The prevalence of social media activity among DC plan sponsors is much higher than we anticipated,” says Linda York, practice director of syndicated research at Cogent. “These results indicate that a social media strategy, if it isn’t already, should be an integral component of any provider’s overall communication plan.”

Cogent surveyed 1,500 defined contribution plan sponsors.