The size of budgets designated to reach smartphone and tablet users is expected to climb.
According to a recent survey, the percentage of overall advertising budgets that is expected to be designated for social media marketing, specifically with smartphone using consumers in mind, is expected to explode.
This was reported in the latest CMO Survey, which looked into the types of spending within the budgets.
The survey involved the participation of chief marketing officers of various firms, who reported that they are currently spending an average of 8.4 percent of their overall budgets toward social media marketing. However, within the next year, that number is expected to climb to 11.5 percent of the budgets.
In 5 years, social media marketing will make up 21.6 percent of the budgets, said the survey.
This shift in the way that the funds are being spent and in the importance of social media marketing is expected to become a primary topic in advertising and technology circles. According to the CMO Survey director, Christine Moorman, “Companies are searching for novel ways to interact with their customers that will drive the growth of their companies. Unfortunately, marketers are behind the curve with their current levels of social media expenditure, given the amount of time customers spend engaged with one another and with companies online.”
The research, said Moorman, involved the participation of 468 American marketing execs who identified social media marketing as one of the most important areas for increased spending. These results, she said, show that the importance of this channel is now being heavily recognized. She also pointed out that some of the largest spending increases in this area are expected to take place in some of the business-to-consumer sector giants, such as Coca-Cola and Proctor & Gamble.
The survey showed that among companies of this nature, social media marketing spending will rise from an average 9.6 percent of the budget at the moment, to 24.6 percent of the budget in five years from now.
In Moorman’s news release, she stated that companies are still trying to figure out how to be able to measure the efficacy of their social media marketing campaigns.
