The fact that that social web has been in the news a lot the past few weeks is another indicator that it is moving from “fad” to business reality.

Last week the Old Spice tweets and You Tube videos were a business news sensation.  The week before that Facebook was on the hot seat for privacy issues. And now, social media marketing is taking center stage on the employment scene.

An article in in the Wall Street Journal reports that social marketing is the hottest job around right now:

• Universal McCann, the media-buying firm owned by Interpublic Group of Cos., is bolstering its social-media offering by launching a practice this week called Rally. “Social media is now part of all our clients’ plans; we can’t not be in this space,” says Matt Seiler, chief executive of Universal McCann.
• Publicis Groupe’s digital umbrella organization, Vivaki, says it also will open a social-media consulting practice by the end of the year.
• Some corporations have taken a hands-on role in crafting their efforts: PepsiCo Inc.’s Gatorade, for example, recently created its “Mission Control Center,” which is set up like a broadcast-television control room and is charged with monitoring the sports drink around the clock across social-media networks.
• Ad spending on social networks world-wide is expected to rise 14% this year to $2.5 billion, according to research firm eMarketer. Although social media represents only a fraction of the $55 billion online-ad market, it is one of the fastest-growing segments.

We can also verify from our personal experience here at Freesource that demand for top-notch sales and marketing talent with social media experience is growing. I’m pleased to report that demand for our services has never been stronger.  It looks like we’re in a real boom period right now for the marketing profession.

Ilustration: The Economist