Mar. 28, 2008

So far today, many Internet marketers have yet to commit major advertising budgets to social networking sites. Is it by fear or by lack of knowledge?

While it's certainly true that it's still a new advertising medium, there are some that think it still offers a lot of long-term potential to Internet advertisers willing to exploit new opportunities. But so far social network advertising is advancing at a snail's pace.

Approximately 32.3 percent of Internet marketers in the U.S. and ad agencies surveyed in an iMedia Connection poll earlier this month said that they planned to spend $300,000 or less in 2008 on social network marketing.

The survey was conducted among attendees at the recent iMedia Breakthrough Summit. Debra Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer says "with these numbers, social network ad spending may still be categorized as experimental for many marketers."

For its take, eMarketer predicts that overall online social network ad spending will be close to about $1.6 billion in the U.S. for 2008. That number includes all forms of advertising appearing on social network sites, including branded campaigns as well as search, video, local advertising and ads delivered via ad networks.

The poll wasn't conducted among a representative sample of marketers, but is useful in a directional sense. The less than 30 percent of Internet marketers polled by iMedia Connection who plan to spend $2 million or more will help social network ad spending add up.

Estimates of the exact percentage of marketers using social networks vary by source and methodology.

Williamson added "as in many other developing advertising markets, much of the spending on social networks is driven by leading-edge marketers who are willing to take risks."

A study performed by CoreMetrics in October of last year reveals that, the IAB, Prospero Technologies and others found that anywhere from about 20 percent to nearly fifty percent of Internet marketers used social networks to a certain degree.

Overall differences hinged on whether or not Internet marketers were already using social networks or intended to use them, and if the advertisers considered themselves to be digitally savvy or not when it comes to social networking.

Source: eMarketer