US social media ad spend to hit $3.08 billion in 2011

US marketers will spend $3.08 billion to advertise on social networking sites such as Facebook this year, according to eMarketer.

This represents a 55% increase on the $1.99 billion that advertisers spent on social media in 2010. eMarketer expects this trend to continue and predicts a further 27.7% rise next year, pushing the total to almost $4 billion by the end of 2012.

This year’s growth will push social media to 10.8% of the total spent online in the US. However, globally, social media claims a lower 8.7% share.

eMarketer forecasts a 71.6% increase (to $5.97 billion) in global social media ad spend this year.

Facebook has been the biggest driver in social media advertising, encouraging eMarketer to upgrade its last forecast for US spending by $1 billion (which it made in August 2010).

“2010 was the year that Facebook firmly established itself as a major force not only in social network advertising but all of online advertising,” said eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson.

Advertising spend on Facebook is expected to reach $2.19 billion in the US this year, and just over $4 billion worldwide, doubling last year’s figures.