Budget season is upon us. With last year finally etched in stone, IT marketing departments are looking for the best ways to put their cash to work in 2010. Though companies are beginning to invest more in technology, marketing budgets at IT manufacturers and resellers alike are still being managed cautiously. So, riskier approaches are likely to struggle for a share of this year’s allocation.

With this in mind, attitudes toward social media marketing are shifting, suggesting that this activity is no longer viewed as high risk and of nebulous value. The latest survey by MarketingSherpa shows that nearly three quarters of respondents have a positive view of social media marketing at budget time, which means we’ll likely see more businesses committing to it this year – and those that have moved in this direction already are probably poised to dive deeper.

Of course, specific perceptions vary.

Only 7 percent see social media as producing measurable return on investment and plan to “increase budget liberally for continuous improvement.” Forty-nine percent, however, say it’s a “promising tactic and will eventually produce ROI,” believing that conservative budget increases are the way to go.

The 17 percent that responded, “Social media is basically free. Let’s keep it that way,” are implicitly committing to the method without committing additional budget to it. But, in pursuing social media marketing at all, they are allocating resource time to the activity. This may not be the same as a hard-dollar allocation, but it does entail the consumption of marketing resources, which is itself an investment.

Finally, 27 percent say that it is “unknown and something we do only as time permits,” musing, “Why invest more?” This may not be an avoidance of social media, but the response suggests that it’s at best not a priority.

In the second half of 2009, especially with retailer efforts heading into the holiday shopping season, social media marketing became a clear priority for businesses eager to promote their products and capabilities to their target markets. And, it isn’t limited to the consumer world. LinkedIn groups and Twitter accounts are arising regularly to identify pockets of demand that might not be reached through traditional marketing measures.

For the IT industry, 2010 will be the year that social media marketing becomes effectively mandatory for brand reinforcement and demand generation. This year, social media marketing will be proactive – in 2011, new entrants will be forced to play catch-up.

[Via MarketingSherpa]