1) Social media marketing is rapidly growing in popularity as online usage increases globally. 42% of marketers plan to increase spending on social media platforms in 2009.
2) Top social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace saw large increases in unique visitors in 2008. Advertising spending on these sites also rose substantially worldwide.
3) Marketers rate user comments and ratings as the most effective social media strategies for generating leads and driving online businesses. Blogs are also considered important lead generation tools.