New Forecast Puts Social Media Ad Spending at $8.3 Billion by 2015

According to a freshly published report from BIA/Kelsey, an adviser to companies in the local media space, social media advertising revenues will balloon from $2.1 billion in 2010 to $8.3 billion in 2015, representing a compound annual growth rate of 31.6 percent.

BIA/Kelsey’s U.S. Local Media Annual Forecast dictates that the current predominant ad format is display, spending on which the firm expects will increase from $2.1 billion in 2010 to $7.7 billion in 2015.

Despite the undeniable reality that revenues for non-display ad formats, such as Twitter’s promoted products, are presently “minimal,” BIA/Kelsey anticipates there will be a number of format developments beyond display, and expects the social non-display segment to grow from zero in 2010 to $600 million in 2015.

BIA/Kelsey defines social media advertising as “money spent on advertising formats across social networks.”

“It’s no surprise that Facebook commands a dominant share of all social ad impressions served and ad revenues generated,” said Jed Williams, analyst and program director of BIA/Kelsey’s Social Local Media practice.

“As the social market leader, it already serves the most display ad impressions of any digital company, surpassing both Yahoo and Google,” Williams adds. “We fully expect Facebook to increase both impression share and ad revenue, as buyer awareness accelerates and creative formatting and targeting improve to optimize performance.”

“Over the next few years, social media factors will become a core element of various ad networks, which will in turn drive increased advertiser spending and innovation,” concluded Andrew Shotland, associate program director, Social Local Media and proprietor of LocalSEOGuide.com. “The market is ripe for a ‘social AdSense’ and we expect to see a number of players pushing this model in the future.”