Online advertising channels, ranging from search engines to social networks, are attracting larger budgets from businesses across the country.

Online advertising channels, ranging from search engines to social networks, are attracting larger budgets from businesses across the country. Marketers are showing elevated interest in Facebook, in particular, a recent report from IgnitionOne indicates.

While companies already using the popular social network for marketing purposes have increased budgets allocated to Facebook by 22 percent compared to last year, a growing number of companies have begun to integrate the social network into their marketing mix for the first time. Overall, IgnitionOne observed a 280 percent year-over-year increase in advertising spend.

Search budgets also grew during this same period, with paid search allocations up 12 percent year-over-year in the second quarter. However, the source notes that paid search spending has slowed down a bit, perhaps to make room for emerging channels and organic search efforts.

“Overall it was a very good quarter for online advertising, but it wasn’t a slam dunk,” explains Roger Barnette, president of IgnitionOne.

Meanwhile, this year demonstrates considerable growth in the realm of social content investment. As Brafton has reported, both social media marketing and content marketing are cited as top marketing priorities this year, and businesses will likely find that unique social content engages the ever-growing Facebook audience.