Social media ad spending is expected to double in the U.S. between now and 2016, according to a new forecast from BIA/Kelsey.

The data are from BIA/Kelsey’s U.S. Local Media Forecast, which sees a compound annual growth rate of 21 percent in social media advertising.

The forecast estimates social media ad spend at $4.8 billion in 2012 and doubling to $9.8 billion by 2016. (That’s slightly more than double, to be precise.) BIA/Kelsey estimates that about one-third of that ad spend will be from local advertisers, with their ad spending in the U.S to grow from $1.2 billion this year to $3.1 billion in 2016.

The forecast credits the growth of local social ad spend to increased adoption of Facebook’s ad platform and Twitter’s recently launched self-serve ad platform for small businesses. There are also recent reports that Foursquare is launching an ad platform later this year.

Mobile will no doubt be another driver of social/local ad spending. Both Facebook and Twitter recently announced that ads can be targeted to their rapidly growing number of mobile users.

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Social Media Marketing | Social Media Marketing: Advertising | Statistics: Online Advertising | Statistics: Spend Projections

About The Author: Matt McGee is Editor-In-Chief of Marketing Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the US. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. You can read Matt's disclosures on his personal blog. See more articles by Matt McGee

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