We are closing in on the end of 2009 and everyone is trying to get a pulse of the industry to predict what the future holds. Marketing Profs helps shed some light on this topic with the recent release of their State of Social Media Marketing study. This research was conducted using the input of a panel of social media experts and survey responses of more than 5,000 Marketing Profs readers. In addition to these audiences, comScore mined its own panel data and shared with Marketing Profs to get an unbiased look at global usage of social media among non-marketers.

Some of the study’s key findings syncs up with our monthly topic of making the case for social media:

• The majority of companies do not have a social media policy or online interaction guidelines in place, but that having said policy/guidelines, leads to less internal confusion or more effective social media marketing. Why should your organization have a social media policy or rules of engagement?
• The majority of marketers state their measurement of return on investment (ROI) for their participation in social media is mediocre or average. The good news is, over half report they are using some form of tracking. How do you begin to make the case for social media with measurement?
• Only 15% of social media marketers state their job descriptions include blogging, posting or networking responsibilities. However, more than 50% of marketers indicate they are integrating social media into their existing job responsibilities. What is the first conversation you have with the boss to get started in social media and begin integrating new tools?

The report is divided into three sections and focuses on company, individual marketer and consumer use of social media. Each section delves further into exploring how social media responsibilities are currently being integrated into traditional tools, mindsets and culture. While perusing the report, you may find our very own David Alston quoted along with several other social media marketers.

One of the neatest things about this report is the section about how the self-reported Myers-Briggs personality types of social media marketers mesh with their industry responsibilities. Those who are social media marketers are more likely to be ENTJ (Extrovert-iNtuitive-Thinking-Judging) and enjoy mixing their personal and professional lives more so than the general population at ISFJI (Introvert-Sensing-Feeling-Judging).

How is social media changing?

While one cannot predict the future, it is always interesting to speculate what is on the horizon. Here are some highlights:

• Increase in case studies integrating social media with traditional tools/channels
• Increase in comfort level for expressing social media needs, desires and challenges
• Increase in social media policies/guidelines allowing for more open corporate culture

Many tool trends were mentioned, but the relevance of those remain to be seen. This report gives great insight into how we are moving forward as an industry, sharing knowledge and learning valuable lessons along the rocky road of social media integration. Happy reading and processing!