Spending in Social Media Social Sponsorships to Reach $56.8 Million in 2010
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A new report from PQ Media is the first to define, size, structure and forecast spending in the emerging category of Social Media Sponsorships. Brand marketers are increasingly finding a way to be included in social media content – including the controversial “sponsored conversations” segment — where a brand pays a content provider, such as a blogger or someone with a large Twitter or Facebook following, to review or link to its product in exchange for cash or free products.
Key findings from the report include:
- The value of paid and non-paid social media sponsorships grew at a compound annual rate of 77.6% from 2004 to 2009, accounting for 2.7% of total word-of-mouth marketing spending in 2009, up from only 0.5% in 2004.
- PQ Media expects the total value of social media sponsorships to increase 23.6% in 2010 to $56.8 million, driven by a stronger advertising and marketing environment as the economy improves, as well as continued pressure on brands to increase their presence in social media.
- Cash-sponsored social media, available through sponsored conversation firms, is the fastest-growing social media sponsorship segment, with spending rising 37.3 percent in 2009 to $10.3 million, driven by brand requirements to reach specific “influentials” such as young females and working mothers.
Why social sponsorships? “Brand marketers move dollars to where their target consumers are spending time to build relationships with them and, as social media captures more of consumers’ time, brands warming to social media sponsorships as a new method to engage, educate and activate them,” said Patrick Quinn, CEO of PQ Media.
And it doesn’t look like the FTC guidelines have stunted the growth of this sector. The largest brand categories by spending in 2009 were CPGs, food & beverage, health & beauty, and media & entertainment. While social media sponsorships accounted for less than 3% of overall word-of-mouth marketing spending in 2009, this share is expected to continue growing over the next several years, fueled by the controversial sponsored conversations segment, according to Social Media Sponsorships Forecast 2010-2014.
What’s your take on social sponsorships? Inquiring minds want to know.
DISCLAIMER: SponsoredTweets and IZEA are a client. They in no way asked me to write this post or compensated me for doing so.
8 Comments on this post
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Umbro England said:
I do a lot of freelance social media work; mainly for individuals that would like to manage their online reputation and become more of a presence online. It’s very hard to price projects, but I try my best to estimate the amount of time to complete. After all, it’s all about how much time and energy you are willing to put into your social media endeavors.
May 11th, 2010 at 11:46 am -
Laptop Carrying Cases said:
It’s no surprise that social media spending in general should keep increasing for a while. Social media is still a growing technology that more and more companies are going to want to take advantage of. I’m sure there are many of the fence that have been tempted to jump in but wanted to see how things unfolded first.
May 11th, 2010 at 12:41 pm -
Forex Indicators said:
Personally I see social sponsorship as a form of advertisement. There is no right and wrong in this issue because it all depends on the site owner whether he or she wants to write for the sponsors.
With the increasing influence of the web to people lifestyle, there is no surprise that this kind of marketing will keep on increasing.
May 11th, 2010 at 8:38 pm -
Turkey said:
These are very serious money. I agree with Mr. Forex Indicators.
May 14th, 2010 at 6:53 am -
Catering Florida said:
Social media marketing increase rapidly and its new features attract to visitors.
May 20th, 2010 at 3:52 am -
Umbro England said:
wow for a sec there i thought that was the amount of money you were making on 2010 lol
May 20th, 2010 at 11:55 am -
Komodo Dragon said:
It really doesn’t shock me at all that the spending continues to grow, and I hope the FTC stays out this, as really I don’t see the need for me to put their foot in this yet.
May 21st, 2010 at 12:08 am
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