Fact: Social media is on the rise. But just how much? According to The Nielsen Company, in 2008, the average time spent on social networking sites was about three hours per month. This increased to about five and a half hours a month in 2009 (which is an 82-percent increase in just one year).

Forrester Research also estimates that, within five years, social media budgets will be larger than those for both mobile and e-mail marketing activities. According to Arc Worldwide’s “Social-Media Study,” this growth can be attributed to the fact that there are 95 million social media shoppers in the U. S., and more than 40 percent of U.S. adults are using social media in their shopping experiences. An interesting fact from this study is that social media plays a role in the consumer shopping experience throughout the entire purchase cycle (as opposed to mostly at the beginning or end like other media platforms).

Additionally, social media shoppers spend about 83 percent more time shopping and about 38 percent more money than non-social media shoppers. They also use other media channels such as television, radio, magazine or newspaper ads, as well as direct mail.

With social media shoppers spending more time and money shopping, they are the new consumer group your business must target.