eMarketer: Social spending to increase in '08

Don't look for the social marketing trend to lose popularity as we move into 2008. According to a recent eMarketer forecast, social network advertising will increase by about 70% in the New Year.

by Kristina Knight

Marketers are expected to spend about $1.6 billion in social spaces in 2008. That is an increase of 69% over 2007, which brought in roughly $920 million in social marketing dollars.

Debra Aho Williamson insists social marketing is not a fad even though much media attention has been spent on it. “In 2007, 37% of the US adult Internet population and 70% of teens used online social networking at least once a month.” eMarketer predicts that this usage will increase in the coming months and that the total US audience will increase by more than 45% by the year 2011.

That growth will, of course, change in the coming years as will the types of marketing offered on social networks. Up until now most social marketing has been focus on word-of-mouth type ads and marketing standards. As the industry continues to grow that focus is expected to shift. Rather than only serving ads through the social network portal, marketers will be able to reach consumers as they are shopping online, through email and even paid search as these entities take on some of the same capabilities of social networking websites.