This year, advertising spending on social network sites is expected to rise 77% to £115 million, with marketers projected to spend £285 million in 2012, according to a new report from eMarketer.
An estimated 11 million people, about 30% of UK internet users, participated in online social networking last year, said eMarketer.
| UK Online Social Networking Advertising Spending, 2007-2012 (millions and % change) |
| |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
| Dollars |
130 |
225 |
336 |
432 |
486 |
533 |
| Pounds |
65 |
115 |
175 |
225 |
260 |
285 |
| % Change* |
– |
76.9% |
52.2% |
28.6% |
15.6% |
9.6% |
| Note: Converted at average annual exchange rates (projected for future years); *based on £ figures |
| Source: eMarketer |
The UK dominates social network spending in Western Europe, with 68% of the market. However, the social network ad market still trails that in the US by one to two years. eMarketer expects that the UK market will enjoy slightly greater gains in social network ad spending, percentage-wise, than the US. But social sites represent a tiny portion of UK online ad spending – just 3.4% in 2008.
| UK Online Social Network Advertising Spending, 2007-2012 (millions and % of total online ad spending) |
| |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
| Dollars |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Social network ad spending |
130 |
225 |
336 |
432 |
486 |
533 |
| Online ad spending |
5,280 |
6,578 |
7,553 |
8,335 |
8,755 |
9,631 |
| Pounds |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Social network ad spending |
65 |
115 |
175 |
225 |
260 |
285 |
| Online ad spending |
2,640 |
3,356 |
3,934 |
4,341 |
4,682 |
5,150 |
| Social network % of total |
2.5% |
3.4% |
4.4% |
5.2% |
5.6% |
5.5% |
| Note: converted at average annual exchange rates (projected for future years |
| Source: eMarketer |
Online social network ad spending has moved at a slower pace than consumer adoption, but with the growth of Facebook and the acquisition of homegrown favourite Bebo by AOL, things are picking up. Bebo, Facebook and MySpace account for the lion’s share of users in the UK.
“Though social network advertising is forecast to grow aggressively this year, it will only do so if social network operators can develop substantial metrics showing the value and performance of the advertising,” said Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst specializing in social networking and author of the report, UK Social Network Marketing: Ad Spending and Usage.
In a separate report, eMarketer revised downward its projections for US social network ad spending, now estimating that advertisers will spend $1.4 billion to place ads on social networks this year, down from the previous projection of $1.6 billion (see eMarketer Lowers Social networking Adspend Estimate).
Last month, figures from comScore showed that Facebook was the UK’s most popular social networking site in April following a 7.2% rise in unique users (see Facebook Remains UK’s Most Popular Social Networking Site).
Related Links
