Global social media revenue is forecast to reach $16.9bn in 2012, a Gartner report has revealed - up 43% from 2011’s $11.8bn. 

Advertising continues to be the largest contributor to overall social media revenue and is projected to total $8.8bn in 2012. 

Social gaming revenue more than doubled between 2010 and 2011 and is expected to reach $6.2bn in 2012, while revenue from subscriptions is expected to total $278m this year.

"More than one billion people worldwide will use social networks this year," says Neha Gupta, senior research analyst at Gartner. 

"Although the number of social media users is large, and in some cases increasingly mature in their usage patterns, the market is still in its early stages from a revenue perspective." 

Gartner expects the number of social media users will continue to increase at a moderate pace. New forms of media and entertainment will keep users engaged on social media sites and attract new ones. 

Marketers are allocating a higher percentage of their advertising budget to social networking sites. 

"In the short and medium terms, social media sites should deploy data analytic techniques that interrogate social networks to give marketers a more accurate picture of trends about consumers' needs and preferences on a customised basis, says Gupta. 

"In the meantime, however, they should also continue to exploit other channels of revenue like mobile advertising and social commerce."

The trend to sell high-value advisory services, such as public relations and reputation management, to brands so that they can better manage their presence on social networks is also on the rise and is expected to continue. 

Posted by

Smarayda Christoforou