budget growth

We all know that social media marketing is on the rise, but by how much exactly?
 
Last week, Forrester Research released their Interactive Marketing Forecast for the next five years that estimated social media marketing to grow at an astonishing annual rate of 34 percent – faster than any other form of online marketing – to hit 3.1 billion by 2014.
 
Of course, social media is still an infant – compared to other segments of online marketing, like display advertising and search marketing — but an infant that’s growing really fast. In just five years, this kid will be making more money than both email and mobile marketing. Quite a promising forecast, isn’t it? Can we get a portable time machine already (say, in the form of another iPhone application and fast-forward to 2014?!
 
However, it looks like 2009 is not a bad year either, despite the mostly cloudy economic climate. The experimental phase of social media marketing is coming to an end. eMarketer.com called 2009 “the year of building social media strategy.” Indeed, it seems like everybody is finally realizing the importance of social media, and companies all over the world are busy developing best practices and implementing first social media strategies.
 
Still very young and under-developed, social media is like a kid who is only getting ready to start school this fall. And gosh, aren’t we anxious for this kid to study well, grow up strong and healthy, and start making a lot of money – as soon as possible?