Do business and socializing mix?
Apparently so. As the number of business users of social
networks continues to increase, advertising expenditures will rise, too.
In the US this year, advertisers will spend $40 million to reach a business
audience on online social networks, and that is just the beginning. According
to eMarketer projections, that ad spending will reach $210 million in 2012.
"As compelling as the ad growth is,
marketers will spend far more over the next few years to create and manage
their own social networks for business customers, partners, suppliers and
vendors," says Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer and
author of the new report, B2B Marketing on Social Networks: Engaging the Business Audience. "These business networks will serve a range
of purposes, from improving customer communication and collaboration to aiding
product development."
A clear sign of the revolution in business thinking and behavior is the popularity of
LinkedIn—the most widely known professional social network—where the audience
has more than doubled in the past year, and the rise of additional
business-oriented networks, including a raft of networks aimed at verticals.
In fact, vertical industry networks targeting just about any job description
or category are proliferating. Among the most prominent are ITtoolbox, a
1.3-million-member community of information technology professionals; Legal
OnRamp and LawLink for attorneys; and Reel-Exchange, for film and video
professionals.
"Even Facebook has become a de facto B2B social network," says Ms.
Williamson, "simply because so many business executives have joined it in
the past year."
The giant social networking site may not consider itself to be in the B2B
space, but a June 2008 deal with Visa, which created an application called Visa
Business Network for small businesses on Facebook, signals that it will
probably attract more advertising aimed at a growing business audience.
"With the growing popularity of professional social network Websites,
businesspeople are changing how they build professional relationships and find
jobs," says Ms. Williamson.
To get more information on this subject and to find out how to obtain this report, and all the information you need to succeed in digital marketing and media, look into an eMarketer Total Access Subscription for your company today.