I wonder what exactly that budget will be spent on.

Today, Mashable highlighted a Forrester report that forecasts budget spend in social media to “grow at an annual rate of 34 percent – faster than any other form of online marketing and double the average growth rate of 17 percent for all online mediums.”

The report doesn’t go into specifics on what exactly that money will be spent on; and whether the investment will be used to talk AT the conversation, IN the conversation, or both.

Talking at the conversation is basically a media buy aimed at social media channels (i.e. Federated Media or social ads in Facebook). In this case, budget would be spent in a more traditional sense – CPM, creative and CPC in some cases.

Talking in the conversation requires human capital. In other words, hiring community managers, training them properly and empowering them to engage online is where the substantial investment would go. In my opinion, talking IN the conversation exemplifies the true essence of social media; and Twitter is a great tool that facilitates that dialogue.

Talking at the conversation should not be discounted though. Buying media in Facebook that will drive traffic to a Fan Page where community managers are ready and waiting to engage would be ideal.

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