SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS 2009 - wsimarketbuilders.com · WSI Social Media Trends Report Page 2 Executive Summary According to findings from the recent eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit,

Unless otherwise specified, the source of all statistics is eMarketer.

Social Media Trends ReportSocial Media Trends Report

Global statistics on current social media marketing trends Global statistics on current social media marketing trends Global statistics on current social media marketing trends

Copyright © 2009 Research and Management

SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS 2009SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS 2009SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS 2009

Executive Summary • Change in online marketing budgets

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Social Networking Usage • Worldwide usage of social media

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Social Media Marketing • Online marketing spending and social site usage

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Social Media Advertising Spending • Worldwide spending on social media marketing

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Facebook and MySpace • US and worldwide advertising spending

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Social Media Tools • Tools currently used and those to be added

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Importance & Effectiveness • How marketers rate social media tools

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Lead Generation • Social media marketing and lead generation

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Tracking Social Media • Primary objectives and ROI tracking metrics

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Conclusion • Benefits of social media marketing

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Social Media Marketing is Rapidly Growing in Popularity As the online population continues to grow worldwide, so does the popularity of using social media tools. The increasing usage of social media offers marketers an exceptional opportunity to allocate their marketing dollars toward a medium that allows them to more effectively reach their target audience.

Copyright © 2009 Research and Management WSI Social Media Trends Report

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Executive SummaryExecutive Summary

According to findings from the recent eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit, 42% of marketers worldwide plan to increase their marketing spend via social media, while 35.5% plan to maintain their current budgets. Interestingly, video advertising spending will see the largest increase in 2009 (61.5%). This Social Media Trends Report is a brief synopsis of the current social media trends, specifically regarding social media usage, advertising spending, leading Web 2.0 tools and tracking the ROI of social media marketing. This report will hopefully help you identify where your company stands with social media marketing.

Social Networking Site Users • In Canada, 86.5% of the total online population use social networking sites

• 85.2% of Brazilian Internet users are on the social networks

• The UK social networking population stands at 78.4%

• The social community remains strong in Spanish‐speaking countries with 73% in Mexico and 70.7% in Spain

• Meanwhile, in the US, 70.2% of Internet users participate in social networks


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Social Networking UsageSocial Networking Usage Worldwide usage of social networking sitesWorldwide usage of social networking sitesWorldwide usage of social networking sites

Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn Most Popular Among Professionals • 62% of at‐work Internet users worldwide use LinkedIn for professional purposes, while 33% use it for personal reasons

• 34% are on YouTube for personal use while 55% visit the site for professional reasons

• Interestingly, the comparison between personal or professional use of Twitter, Digg and Delicious is very close with a 1‐2% difference

• Meanwhile, 27% of at‐work Internet users participate in MySpace for personal reasons and 8% use it for professional purposes

Top 3 Areas to See Increase in Online Marketing Spend: Social, Search and Mobile • 77% of senior marketing executives worldwide said they would increase word‐of‐mouth or social media marketing spending in 2009

• Meanwhile, 12% said they would maintain their current budgets on social media marketing

• 60% of those surveyed said they would increase video advertising spending while 24% said they would maintain their budgets

• Search and mobile marketing will see increase in spending as well (76% and 75% respectively)

Social Media Sites Used by Online Marketers • The majority of online marketers (65%) use Facebook as part of their marketing strategy

• On the other hand, 49% of marketers incorporate Twitter into their strategy

• Marketing via YouTube is being utilized by 39% of marketers, while 38% use LinkedIn to market

• Delicious and Digg are also being utilized as marketing channels according to 31% of respondents


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Social Media MarketingSocial Media Marketing Online marketing spending and social site usageOnline marketing spending and social site usageOnline marketing spending and social site usage

Social Networking Ad Spend • According to eMarketer, social networking advertising spending worldwide will increase each year by about 10%

• Marketers will spend a total of $2.35 billion advertising on social networks in 2009 (a 17% increase over 2008)

• In 2010, $2.6 billion will be allocated toward social network advertising

• By 2013, social networking ad spend will reach $3.5 billion, an increase of 9.6% over the previous year’s estimated spend

Change in Social Media Marketing Spending • According to Aberdeen Group, 21% of best‐in‐class companies are increasing their social media marketing spending by 25% or more in 2009

• 16% will increase their social media marketing budgets by 11% ‐25% this year

• 26% of best‐in‐class companies will spend 1% ‐ 10% more advertising through social media

• Meanwhile, 34% said they would maintain their current social media marketing budgets


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Social Media Ad Spending Social Media Ad Spending Worldwide spending on social media marketingWorldwide spending on social media marketingWorldwide spending on social media marketing

Note: Best‐in‐class companies are defined by Aberdeen Group as those that placed in the top 20% of aggregate performance scorers in three key criteria: likelihood of customers recommending their products or services, return on marketing investment (ROMI) and customer acquisition rate.

Unique Visitors to Select Social Networking Sites • Facebook and MySpace were ranked as the most popular social networking sites in 2008

• 200 million unique visitors participated in Facebook (a 116% increase over the previous year)

• MySpace received 120 million unique visitors (16% increase)

• Interestingly, the social network that saw the largest increase was LinkedIn (125%) to 12 million unique users as of November 2008

MySpace and Facebook Advertising Spending • Advertising spending on MySpace worldwide reached $605 million in 2008, according to eMarketer

• In the same year, $250 million was spent advertising on Facebook

• In 2009, it is estimated that Facebook advertising spending will reach $300 million

• As per eMarketer, MySpace advertising worldwide will decrease slightly in 2009; however, non‐US marketers will increase their MySpace advertising spending by $5 million


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Facebook and MySpaceFacebook and MySpace US and worldwide advertising spendingUS and worldwide advertising spendingUS and worldwide advertising spending

Social Media that Online Businesses Currently Use • Blogs are considered the top communication tool, according to 29% of online businesses

• RSS feeds are used by 23% of online businesses, making it the second leading social media tool

• User ratings, rankings and comments were ranked in third place with 22% of respondents

• Meanwhile, 19% of online businesses use syndicating content on social sites as part of their marketing strategy

Social Media that Online Businesses Plan to Add • A total of 32% of online businesses plan to add blogs to their marketing strategy in 2009

• User ratings, rankings and comments will be added by 31% of online businesses this year

• 26% of respondents said they will start using RSS feeds

• And 23% of online businesses will integrate syndicating content to social sites as part of their marketing plan this year


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Social Media ToolsSocial Media Tools Tools currently being used and those expected to be addedTools currently being used and those expected to be addedTools currently being used and those expected to be added

Most Important Web 2.0 Technologies • Social networking ranks second in importance behind Web services, among Web 2.0 technologies that companies worldwide use (32%)

• 31% of worldwide respondents said that a blog was the most important Web 2.0 technology

• Wikis received the response of 26% of worldwide companies in terms of its importance

• Meanwhile, 20% of companies said video‐sharing was the most important Web 2.0 activity

Social Media Rated Very Effective by Online Businesses • When online businesses were asked about the effectiveness of social media, the majority (36%) said user ratings, rankings and comments were most effective

• Ranked as the 2nd most effective social media strategy was user‐generated ratings/contests (30%)

• 27% of businesses agreed that user‐generated visual content was most effective

• Syndicating content to social sites and blogs received the response of 19% and 18% of businesses respectively


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Importance & EffectivenessImportance & Effectiveness How marketers rate social media toolsHow marketers rate social media toolsHow marketers rate social media tools


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Importance of Social Media for Lead Generation • 31% of business professionals rated company blogs as a “critical” component for lead generation, while 21% said they were an “important” factor

• YouTube was ranked as “critical” or “important” by 10% and 16% of business professionals respectively

• 16% of respondents consider Facebook an important channel of lead generation

• Twitter received the response of 14% in terms of its importance for generating leads

Percentage of Leads Generated • When examining the number of leads generated from various marketing channels, blogs and social media resulted in 8% of leads

• 16% of leads generated for businesses came as a result of search engine optimization

• Email marketing and pay per click advertising resulted in 14% and 13% of leads respectively

Lead GenerationLead Generation Social media marketing and lead generationSocial media marketing and lead generationSocial media marketing and lead generation

Primary Objectives of Social Media Marketing • According to marketers worldwide, branding was ranked as the primary objective of social media marketing (29%)

• 26% of marketers said that driving traffic to their website was the main goal of marketing via social media

• 18% of respondents said that lead generation was their primary objective, while direct online sales received the response of 11% of marketers

Methods Used to Track ROI of Social Media • The majority of marketers worldwide (23%) use the number of clicks/visitors to track the ROI of social media marketing

• 19% use the number of sales as an ROI tracking method, while 11% use the value of their sales

• 10% of worldwide marketers said they track social media marketing ROI based on the number of leads

• Meanwhile, page impressions and profit margin each received the response of 9% as an ROI tracking metric


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Tracking Social Media Tracking Social Media Primary objectives and ROI tracking metricsPrimary objectives and ROI tracking metricsPrimary objectives and ROI tracking metrics

Social Media Marketing Offers Several Benefits With the widespread adoption of social media, marketers are using this popular medium as an advertising channel to generate results. When surveyed, social media marketers worldwide identified the following benefits:

• Business exposure • Increased traffic, subscribers and opt‐in list • New business partnerships • Higher search rankings • Qualified leads • Reduction in overall marketing expenses • More closed business


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ConclusionConclusion

The growing population of social media users and the benefits of social media marketing are among the many reasons to start integrating this channel into your marketing strategy. However, the key to succeeding in social media marketing is to implement the right tactics, measure your results and adjust your campaigns accordingly to achieve your online business goals. Contact your WSI Consultant for more information about social media marketing.

Social media will change the way companies market Social media will change the way companies market Social media will change the way companies market

Documents

SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS 2009 - wsimarketbuilders.com · WSI Social Media Trends Report Page 2 Executive Summary According to findings from the recent eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit,