Social Media Stats for 2009

I read an interesting profile on Bumped today on the overview of social media spending in Canadian markets for the coming year.

Keith McArthur, principal at com.motion comments on the state of spending.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOzcoIoZ4-o&hl=en&fs=1]

(Bullets from the article)
-Despite the economic slowdown forcing marketers to modify their spending, 82 per cent of Canadian business leaders and senior marketers say they will spend as much or more on social media in 2009 than they did this year. That’s more than for any other marketing communications discipline, as seen in the table below.
-Canadian business leaders say it would be a mistake to cut back on social and digital spending in tough economic times, with 7 in 10 recommending increased investment.
-Nearly four in five Canadian marketers (78 per cent) say senior management supports greater investment in social media. That’s up dramatically from 54 per cent a year ago.
-Facebook has established itself as Canada’s dominant social network. Among Canadians who use social media, 87 per cent say they have tried Facebook, compared with 33 per cent for MySpace and 13 per cent for Twitter.
-Two-thirds of Canadians (65 per cent) who use social media say social media is an important tool for developing, maintaining and nurturing friendships, up from 52 per cent a year ago.
-Two-thirds of Canadians (65 per cent) who use social media say social media tools are important for learning about products, services, organizations and brands, up from 59 per cent a year ago.