According to a June 2010 survey by King Fish Media, HubSpot and Junta42, a remarkable 72 percent of the polled American business leaders said that they now had a social media marketing strategy.
eMarketer reports that the companies surveyed 457 U.S. marketers and managers -- 52 percent of respondents were in the publishing, media, advertising and marketing industries.
Those findings are among the highest percentage from surveys that polled whether U.S. marketers had a social strategy. In May 2010, Digital Brand Expressions found that 52 percent of marketers had no plan -- similar to the 50 percent of poll participants in an April 2010 study by R2integrated.
King Fish and its partners found that 75 percent of the companies with a social strategy said they planned to increase their marketing budget investment in the coming year.
A February 2010 survey by Duke University's Fuqua School of Business found that survey respondents were devoting 5.6 percent of their marketing budget to social media -- up from 3.5 percent six months prior.
Furthermore, marketers expected the allocation to increase to 9.9 percent in the next 12 months and 17.7 percent within five years.
Companies in the King Fish survey were divided on where the budget for social initiatives would come from, however.
While 35 percent thought that funds would be allocated to a specific custom project, 33 percent said their company would increase marketing expenditures to focus more on social media.