1: Social Listening Becoming Important
More brands are beginning to really listen to their customers. According to the report, 60% of marketers were using social listening strategies in 2013 and 24% plan to do so in 2014. The sad news is that only 31% of marketers think their social listening is fully effective. Social listening offers opportunities to interact directly with consumers.

2: 57% of Marketers Use Social Advertising
The lure of social advertising is fascinating. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others are daily destinations for millions of U.S. consumers who spend an average of 37 minutes per day on those channels. No wonder 57% of marketers used social ads in 2013 and another 23% are expected to start using ads in 2014. But again, only 23% of digital marketers find their social advertising efforts effective. The problem for marketers is that social ad options are very confusing. These are some of the questions that make social advertising very tricky. But don’t be caught flat-footed when what used to work starts failing. Educate yourself and start to work with professionals the find most effective ways to leverage social ads in the current market.

3: Email and Social Integrate
You would think the widespread use of social media has made email obsolete. But email is alive and well, according to 68% of marketers who say email is core to their business. In fact, social media has made email even more powerful than ever.
With email marketing, you have the ability to stay top-of-mind with existing customers, which helps bring them back to your door. Then by encouraging your email subscribers to connect with you on Facebook or Twitter, their friends will see your brand on their news feed, thus generating more social visibility for you.
On the other hand, you don’t want to leave your social connections at the mercy of Facebook’s arbitrary algorithms. You want them to receive your content straight to their email inbox, where you have more control and can extend those relationships.

4: Assemble Your Social Media Dream Team
Social media teams are becoming more common, with 57% of companies having a dedicated team to manage social media initiatives. Typically a social media team has three people or fewer.
Most brands understand that having a dedicated team is key to social marketing success. It’s also clear that one-person social media “teams” are most common (probably due to small budgets or lack of buy-in from upper management).
In the other hand, agencies with social media professionals could offer the know-how and a good deal to make your investment and social media efforts reach the best sufficiency.

5: Social Media ROI (Return On Investment) Remains Elusive
While marketers are dedicating more time and resources to social, they’re not 100% sure how effective it is in terms of ROI. Thirty-four percent believe they’re currently seeing ROI, while 52% believe their social media efforts will eventually produce ROI. This is not good. Many business owners make the mistake of not measuring social media ROI. Know this—As long as you’re not measuring, you will never understand how social media marketing can benefit your business.
Measuring helps you to be intentional about your marketing activities instead of spending time and resources on useless tactics that don’t work. Look forward and find the best partner for your social strategies in order to improve your business performance.

Sources:
www.socialmediaexaminer.com