Social media budgets could rise by as much as 43% this year, according to new research from the Internet Advertising Bureau’s (IAB).
Findings from a new study reveal that 88% of UK brands rate social media as important to their business, and that a third plan to allocate between 6 and 20% of their digital marketing budgets on social media in 2010, compared with just 14% in 2009.
The survey – conducted amongst 80 senior level marketers from some big international brands – identifies social media’s popularity among marketers as being a key driver behind the continued rise in uptake.
Three quarters (73%) of respondents state that the marketing department is social media’s natural habitat, while 77% are already using it to drive awareness and consideration, and 75% use it for engagement and advocacy purposes.
Many respondents said they use social media for research purposes, with almost half of (47%) doing so to drive product sales. In terms of implementation, nearly a quarter (22%) have already made it a core part of their communications strategy and 20% use it in most campaigns.
"This is going to be a big year for social media, and we are determined to help make it easier and more effective for marketers and agencies to participate in this revolution,” said chair of the IAB social media council and chief strategy officer for Publicis Modem, Tony Effik.
While the business case for social media may be cemented, the research also highlights some of the challenges facing social media, such as ensuring clarity of new social concepts, crowdsourcing, its effectiveness as a measurement tool, and proving ROI.
Despite these obstacles, Guy Phillipson, the IAB’s CEO, envisages that social media will play a more holistic role in the modern corporate environment.
“If leveraged correctly, social media has the potential to sit at the very heart of an organisation,” he explained.
“Business leaders need to consider its role across an organisation’s entire operation and consider its strategic value to communications, promotion, insights and customer care.”
In terms of specific platforms, the research shows that Twitter and social media monitoring are the most important, with half (51%) of brands actively using them.
Facebook pages are deemed second-most influential (47%), branded communities third (39%), and blogger outreach, UGC, video distribution, reactive customer service and display advertising within social networks on an equally influential footing.
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