Laser Burn Media

As if you don’t know and are living under a rock somewhere social media is taking the world by storm. Marketers are jumping on the bandwagon at a rapid pace. Marketers are actually realizing the power of social media. It gives them an added advantage to target the customers that use or are more likely to use their product. Direct marketing works especially if it is targeted to a select group of people.

Earlier this year, we reported that 63 percent of companies planned to increase their spending on social media in 2009. Thus, it’s not too surprising that a recent study from the Association of National Advertisers reveal that 66 percent of marketers have now used social media in some capacity in 2009.

Also not surprising, the top platforms being utilized: Facebook () (74%), YouTube () (65%), Twitter () (63%), LinkedIn () (60%). Combined, this usage represents significant growth from 2007, when the same survey indicated that just 20 percent of marketers were using social media.

Although social media marketing is clearly on the rise, it remains a relatively small part of most marketing budgets. ANA reports that the bulk of spending will still go to maintaining a company website, search marketing, and online display ads.

That said, social media (including blogs) remains the quickest growing marketing segment, and as we recently reported, it’s expected to grow to a $3.1 billion industry by 2014. In all, it looks like social media marketing still has a healthy amount of growth in front of it.

Advertisers are more willing to use social media but seem to not give it a large part of their budget. Why would they if you know that you are marketing to a certain group of people? It is cheaper to advertise on social media websites and websites themselves than to use mass media like TV or radio. With social media you do not have to advertise to a large group of people and hope that you get a handful of new customers. You can advertise or friend a customer or potential customer and be able to turn that lead or friend into a new customer at a better rate.

Companies and marketing companies will realize that it doesn’t cost that much for social media than any other type of mass media. Who wouldn’t want a better return on their advertising investment? Every company is always looking for new customers right? Social media marketing might be labor intensive but it cost less compared to mass media.

John Botch

Laserburnmedia.com

john@laserburnmedia.com