UK Social Network Ad Spend to Grow 148% 2008-2012

This release summarize some of the key findings of an e-marketer study conducted on social networking market in the UK. Some of the findings i feel were most interesting are:

• e-marketer reports a 148% growth in Ad spending on social networking sites in the UK between 2008-2012.
• 30% of UK internet users visit social networking sites such as Bebo, MySpace, Facebook.
• Social Networking sites only consist of 3.4% of all ONLINE AD spending in the UK

These numbers are very optimistic, however i do understand how e-marketer creates its market estimates, which is basically by analyzing the various findings of a variety of research sources, and coming to a consensus. Its methodology is not unique, but it takes into account a variety of methodologies, and finds that common ground.

Although i don't doubt that ad spending will grow rapidly (especially since it is coming from a low base)--i also beleive that much of this ad spending is being done soley based on intuition, and not on hard facts. I am not entirely sure that companies launching campaigns on social networking sites have got to a point where they understand how they will be successful. This spending must be from "brand" budgets, where all they are concerned about is that their brand meets as many eye-balls as possible.

However i really think that this is only the tip of the iceberg of so-net marketing. The possibilities are endless, when you can leverage the power of peer influence through these social mediums to not only get your brand seen, but more importantly, let your brand interact with people in social settings. I am on the lookout for success stories of brands that were able to leverage these so-net platforms to drive consumers to an action of some sort--or even a purchase?

I am waiting for the real direct marketing impacts of so-net--especially when you start linking it to e-commerce and online sales. For these apps to be truly 'killer'--they have to be able to drive measurable action, in order for marketers to experience true ROI. If anyone can point me to some good examples of success of so-net in direct marketing efforts---that would be greatly appreciated.