• October 17, 2007

Spending on social media and "conversational marketing" will outpace that of traditional marketing by 2012, according to findings of a study released Tuesday by TWI Surveys, Inc. on behalf of the Society for New Communications Research and consultant Joseph Jaffe. The study, based on a survey of 260 senior public relations and marketing communications professionals, found 70% are currently spending 2.5% or less of their communications budgets on conversational marketing, two-thirds plan to increase their investment in conversation within the next 12 months, 57% project that in five years they will be spending more on conversational marketing than traditional marketing, and 23.8% believe that spending on conversational marketing will be the same as traditional marketing in five years. In total, 81% of all respondents project that by 2012 they will spend at least as much on conversational marketing as traditional marketing.