Social media spending to soar during recession?

A new report from Forrester Research has noted that today's tough economy could be a catalyst for companies choosing to invest in social media marketing techniques.

The report spoke to 145 interactive marketing professionals, and follows another survey which found that many businesses are planning to focus on customer engagement in 2009.

According to industry website Marketing Pilgrim, that cScape report found that 47 per cent of businesses value customer engagement and satisfaction as the most important metric to measure. Those businesses are turning to methods that are implemented through Web 2.0 innovations, such as Facebook applications, Twitter and other social networking sites, to engage customers.

This year, 53 per cent of those surveyed by Forrester believe that their budgets for social media marketing will increase - and that the rise is directly in relation to the recession.

A summary of the report notes that inexpensive social media tools could be the answer for organisations suffering during the economic downturn - as they help get marketing messages out to the public through "interactive discussion and rapid word of mouth."

However, it's not all good news for the industry. While funding is set to increase, many organisations still don't see social media as a main marketing tool. Forty-five of those respondents noted that they only determine a social media budget as needed, and 23 per cent noted that they try to scrape together funds for social media from wherever they can find them.

In addition, compared to the rest of interactive marketing, social media still has a long way to go. Only 25 per cent of those companies surveyed are choosing to spend over £100,000 a year on social media.

The author of the report, Jeremiah Owyang, warns against minimal funding for social media marketing. He said: "If you continue to fund social applications only as experiments, you're unlikely to be able to do enough to make an impact, or to have a secure source of funding for the future."

He added: "One way to put these efforts on a firmer footing is to concentrate on objectives and measure progress... rather than just experimenting to see what happens."

The website itself also warns that businesses who choose to spend "peanuts" on social media investment will only receive sub-standard results. Instead, they urge businesses to start investing in opportunities through social media that can help further their business.

Published by: BigMouthMedia

Published 17th March, 2009

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