Social media spending is expected to increase significantly between 2008-2014, with a compound annual growth rate of 34%. This level of growth outpaces other interactive marketing categories. Most marketers plan to increase or maintain their social media budgets in 2010. Many large companies have significantly increased their social media presence and budgets, including Pepsi, Best Buy, Comcast, and Dell. Social media is also becoming more widely used by non-profits, small businesses, and across both B2B and B2C industries.

1. Social Media for Business: 31 Stats & Anecdotes January 15, 2010

2. Social Media spending is expected to increase from $716M in 2008 to $3.1B in 2014, a 34% CAGR. 2

3. That 34% CAGR means Social Media spending is growing faster than any other interactive marketing category 3

4. 86% of Marketers plan to increase Social Media budgets in 2010 and 13% are planning to keep the same level of budget 4

5. Pepsi dropped TV advertising for the 2010 Super Bowl. Instead, they're investing in a $20M Social Media campaign. (After 23 years of Super Bowl ads!) 5

6. Best Buy has over 2,500 employees helping customers on Twitter as part of the Twelpforce initiative 6

7. In fact, Best Buy even purchased TV ads to drive awareness for their Twitter initiative. (Traditional media as the supporting channel and Social Media as the core channel?!) 7

8. Comcast has at least 11 full-time employees dedicated to customer service via Social Media. 8

9. Dell has attributed over $6.5M in revenue directly to Twitter 9 + =

10. 99% of online retailers plan to have a Facebook page by 2011 and 91% plan to have a Twitter page 10

11. Social Media played a major role in 2009 Holiday Shopping – 28% of US shoppers say Social Media influenced their purchases 11

12. JetBlue website visitors who also visited Twitter in July 2009 were 35% more likely to complete a booking than visitors who did not visit Twitter 12

13. In 2009, 91% of Inc. 500 companies report using at least one Social Media channel, compared with 77% of companies surveyed in 2008 13

14. In 2009, 52% of the Inc. 500 companies used Twitter, the 2nd most common channel. It wasn't even present in 2007. 14

15. 53% of the Fortune 500 have at least one active Twitter account 15

16. 57% of the Fortune 100 have at least one active Twitter account 16

17. And they’re starting to expand... 13% of the Fortune 100 have at least 2 active Twitter accounts 17

18. 83% of CMOs are tracking their number of fans in Social Media 18

19. 72% of CMOs plan to attach revenue expectations to their Social Media spending in 2010 19

20. 81% of CMOs plan to link up to 10% of their company’s revenues to Social Media investment next year, up from just 44% in 2009 20

21. 88% of execs at US non-profit organizations are currently experimenting with Social Media 21

22. Small Businesses are catching on too... 68% will increase their Social Media marketing efforts in the next year 22

23. 56% of Twitter users say they use the micro-blogging & communication service for business purposes 23

24. Social Media usage is taking hold at both B2B and B2C business... 81% of B2B and 57% of B2C businesses maintain company-related profiles on social networks 24

25. Over 40% of people have "friended" a brand on Facebook or MySpace 25

26. 20% of tweets are about products such as invitations for product information, answers or responses from peers or directly by brand representatives 26

27. 46% of Facebook users say they would talk about or recommend a product on Facebook. 27

28. 44% of Twitter users have recommended a product. 28

29. 58% of people said if they had tweeted about a bad experience, they would like the company to respond to their comment 29

30. Foursquare's estimated valuation is $6 Million 30

31. Twitter's estimated valuation is $1 Billion 31

32. Facebook's estimated valuation is $10 Billion 32

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34. Sources: Visit this blog entry for links to all sources: http://blog.20dbs.com/Social-Media-for-Business-31-Stats-Anecdotes/2010/01 34