An eMarketer report shows that US marketers are planning on spending a lot more on social media this year. A survey by the Digital Leadership Group here in New Zealand confirms kiwi marketers have the same idea – except for the budget part (84% of respondents plan to allocate less than 5% of their budget to social, even though they say it’s important).

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Got this great email from Bronwyn Hargraves, who’s a marketing officer at Aoraki Polytechnic, as well as an avid fan of iJump (thanks, Bronwyn!). There’s a great insight in here:

“We were having a discussion in marketing class yesterday about promotion, control and communication…. and it got me thinking!

Companies often don’t jump in to social media tools because they are worried about control. They prefer traditional advertising media – tv, billboards etc because they are seen as the safe controllable option.

Yes, you have control of the message that goes out to your customers, or partners but how much control do you have over how that message is received? Was it received?

With mediums like social media, sure there is no control over what messages you may receive back, but this feedback gives you the opportunity to check if your message was interpreted as you intended, and if it wasn’t, you now have an opportunity to respond back. This will ensure an area of shared meaning is established, and ultimately gives you more control over your advertising.”

Thanks again Bronwyn, for your ideas as well as your avid fan-ship of our updates!

Is Bronwyn right? Does letting go actually give you more control? We think so, but we’d love to hear your experiences in this area.

(Photo courtesy of renatotarga. Thanks!)

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Almost exactly a year ago we met Alex and John from Spin Advertising and Design in Christchurch. They talk about how social media has helped build their sales and extended their networks. A year on, it’s amazing how little has really changed – pick up some best practices in this interview.

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We meet Mauricio Freitas, founder of Geekzone.co.nz, and also a speaker at the upcoming Interactive Marketing Summit in Auckland, May 26th.

Hear about Geekzone grew from an idea to a community to a thriving business and advertising platform.

Mauricio also gives us a hint about what he’ll be sharing at the Interactive Marketing Summit – a case study of how companies can harness the power of community to provide credible, grassroots marketing.

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• And of course, we’d love to see your comments below.

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Social media is changing everything, including advertising. Today Marie talks with Jerry Beale, strategic and creative director at Radical Alice about:

* What’s changing in advertising
* What marketers can do
* How to get started
* Why Radical Alice no longer has a MySpace page!

Jump In 10: Ad guy Jerry Beale [ 11:19 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

See the video version.

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Social media is changing everything, including advertising. Today Marie talks with Jerry Beale, strategic and creative director at Radical Alice about:

* What’s changing in advertising
* What marketers can do
* How to get started
* Why Radical Alice no longer has a MySpace page!

Next week, Professor Jonathan Schroeder talks about … all kinds of interesting things!

Get the latest Jump In for free in iTunes or on the web. Subscribe!

• Want to hear it, not see it? Here’s the audio-only version.
• Subscribe to our audio version and Jump In while you’re on the run.
• You can find more info and archives here.
• Can’t see the video above? Watch it at YouTube, Yahoo! Video, MySpace, MetaCafe, Google, DailyMotion, Veoh, Viddler, Vimeo or Blip.tv!
• And of course, we’d love to see your comments below.

Too much information? Sign up for our fortnightly email newsletters and reduce the clutter.