In the recent past, most business-to-business (B2B) marketers were cautious in their use of social media. According to a 2009 Forrester Research report entitled “Social Media Playtime Is Over:”

• Social media budgets remain miniscule compared to the rest of interactive marketing. Three out of four marketers say their social media spend is $100,000 or less over 12 months.

• Social media is not yet a marketing line item. Forty-five percent of marketers say their social budgets are determined as needed and 23 percent say they scrape together funds from wherever they can find them.

But, as Forrester Research’s “B2B US Interactive Marketing Forecast, 2009-2014” issued earlier this year shows that is changing. According to the report, which focused on external expenditures—such as paid search, search engine optimization and display advertising—B2B spending on interactive marketing will more than double in the next five years, jumping from $2.3 billion in 2009 to $4.8 billion in 2014.

At SPR we have seen a growing interest from our clients in our social media expertise. In fact, we have found blogs, online publishing and LinkedIn to be some of the most effective tools we can—and have—utilized on behalf of our clients.

What about your company’s plans for social media? Do you have a strategy in place? Are you looking for ways you can leverage the power of social media for your company?

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