Social Media – More Than Just A Friendly Face

My revelation for the day: There’s money to be made in social media. I know, I’ve stated the obvious. From the gazillion-dollar prize that is the Facebook IPO to the growth in social media measurement applications (our new favourite is SproutSocial), the opportunity for getting ahead by getting together digitally continues to boom.

I just finished reading a recent edition of Advertising Age (April 30, 2012) which features its annual state-of-the-advertising business report. No surprise that digital agencies showed the most growth in both revenue (17.1%) and jobs (17.4%). In fact, more than 30% of last year’s U.S. agency revenue (an impressive $10 billion plus) was generated from digital services including media planning, analytics and digital offerings.

Social media has definitely taken its place at the grown-ups table. Omnicom President and CEO John Wren said, “We believe that 2011 was the year in which the historical distinction between so-called traditional media and digital media disappeared. …Everything we do has a digital component to it.”

Social media companies were the stars of the first worldwide digital ranking, reporting a more than 53% growth in earnings.
According to Advertising Age’s Bradley Johnson, “You can’t do PR without understanding social media.” Apparently you can’t make the big bucks without it either.

- Pamela, Guest Blogger