By Crystal DeGoede*

With diminishing advertising budgets, most companies cannot afford to be everywhere; social media seems like an affordable and cost-saving way to engage and market to your target audience (especially if that is where your audience tends to “hang out”).  As a result, more and more organizations are turning to digital agencies for building their brand online, instead of using their traditional shop. “Fifty percent of US users spend more time online than on any other medium.  Of this percentage, fewer and fewer engage with branded sites, rather they flock in growing numbers to social networks – the sites they also prefer for sharing viral content with peers,” states Emmanuel Vivier in his blog post from VanksenCultureBuzz.

In fact, the rise of social media as a marketing platform has sparked a land grab among communications agencies — digital, public relations, traditional ad firms, etc. – all claiming rightful ownership of the space. Despite concerns about measurement, 64 percent of CMOs said they planned to increase their spending on social media in 2010, according to a December report from The CMO Club. And a “state of interactive agencies” survey of about 100 global interactive marketers conducted by Forrester Research found:

23 percent believed their “traditional brand agency” is capable of planning and managing interactive marketing activities. About 46 percent did not believe them capable, with the rest neutral on the question.

While some decision makers are a little cautious when it comes to a digital agency handling all of their marketing/branding strategies,  and  traditional agencies scatter to get on-board, some organizations need their online presence today, not tomorrow.  And that is why some companies are taking on two agencies, a digital agency to help them in the social media space and the traditional agency to make sure those web guys are keeping with the branding guidelines. The double agency approach means higher cost and more organization.

Will you or your company do more traditional or more social media marketing this year? Has the economy affected your advertising budget for 2010?  Will you drop your traditional agency for a digital one in 2010? Please share your thoughts with the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

*Bio: After graduating from East Carolina University with a Marketing degree in 2005, Crystal DeGoede moved to New Jersey. In her four years as a member of the BurrellesLuce marketing team and through her interaction with peers and clients she has learned what is important or what it takes to develop a career when you are just starting out. She is passionate about continuing to learn about the industry in which we serve and about her career path. By engaging readers on Fresh Ideas Crystal hopes to further develop her social media skills and inspire other “millennials” who are just out of college and/or working in the field of marketing and public relations. Twitter: @cldegoede LinkedIn: Crystal DeGoede Facebook: BurrellesLuce