IZEA: More marketers paying for social media mentions

Paying for mentions in social media has become popular, so popular that in 2009 the U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued regulations requiring bloggers and certain other online publishers are upfront and transparent when they receive cash, free products or other compensation for a product or brand mention.

Almost two-thirds (62.8%) of publishers declared they had received compensation for a post, or series of posts, in IZEA's 2011 State of Social Media Sponsorship (SMS) Report compared with 57.6% last year. Meanwhile over half (51.5%) of marketers said they had paid, in some form, for a mention in social media.

"From our report, we see that advertisers are consistently looking for top content, and are willing to pay more to bloggers or Tweeters who use that content to engage a quality audience," said Ted Murphy, CEO of IZEA.

"And for the content publishers, they are clamoring to work with the top advertising brands, and will actually accept reduced payments in order to gain the prestige that can come from identification with those brands."

Publishers were also asked if they currently monetize social media efforts through any means, with the vast majority (91.1%) answering "I do or would do", compared to 88.4% in 2010.

Tags: blogging, online publishing, paid ads, paid sponsorship, SMS, social media, social media sponsorship