Marketers ALERT: Time Spent On Social Media Has Tripled

If you’re in the marketing field, this is one statistic you should take note of.

A study from The Nielsen Company shows that Americans are spending more time on social media sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and blogs.

Social media has captured 17% of Americans’ total Internet time in August 2009, nearly tripling the mere 6% in August 2008.

Marketers are unsurprisingly quick to ride on this behavior. Advertising spending on Facebook, MySpace and blogs has doubled from $49 million in August 2008 to approximately $108 million in August 2009.

Social networking sites are rising to dominance probably in other websites’ expense. All industries were seen diverting more of their advertising resources toward social networks.

In times of recession, marketers need more certainty that their advertising budget is targeting the right people. Social networking sites like Facebook offer marketers just what they need: an extremely targeted marketing channel where users can be reached base on geographical and demographic data.

This news further suggests how ad revenue played a huge role in Facebook’s first ever positive cash flow last quarter.