New forecast looks at social media marketing integration
Social media marketing will become truly integrated into all marketing efforts in the coming years, a new report from eMarketer claims.
According to eMarketer, location will become more important to social media, with brand monitoring increasing in sophistication “so that companies can begin to understand the ‘why’ of consumer chatter, as well as the who, what and when”.
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | ||||
| Spending | $1,165 | $1,210 | $1,295 | $1,395 |
| % of worldwide total | 59% | 55% | 51% | 48% |
| Non-US | ||||
| Spending | $820 | $1,010 | $1,245 | $1,485 |
| % of worldwide total | 41% | 45% | 49% | 52% |
Debra Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst, said: “The voice of the consumer is only going to get louder and stronger.
“It will shape what social media is and what it will become. Not too long ago, a company might have made major changes to its products or services based on a few focus groups, some financial planning and a degree of gut instinct. Social media has already changed all that. And more changes will come.”
Elsewhere, a recent study found that 66% of marketing professionals will be investing in social media marketing in the next 12 months.
The Alterian survey, of 1,068 marketers, also revealed that, of those investing in SMM, 40% said they would be moving more than a fifth of their traditional direct marketing budget to funding their SMM activities.
The Nielsen Company, meanwhile, published a report in December showing that advertisers have more than doubled the amount of money they spend on social networking websites since 2008.
Around $108 million was spent by advertisers on social sites like Facebook and MySpace in August 2009, up 119% year on year.