Social media is here to stay: Though many business leaders say social media is somewhat "over-hyped," 63% disagree with the idea that it's a marketing fad and over 80% say social media tools can provide a valuable way to monitor and engage with customers, according to a survey from SmartBrief.

Three-quarters of surveyed business leaders (75%) say they are knowledgeable or actively trying to learn more about social media.

However, business leaders say there are pros and cons to using social media: 83% agree that social media gives them a window into what their customers are saying about them, but 80% say social media has the power to magnify negative news about a company.

Staying Competitive With Social Media

Over one-half of business leaders say their companies are actively using and exploring social media in a number of business areas, while 30% are still piloting or considering social media. Just 27% say they are not using social media now and don't plan to in the future.

Meanwhile, 40% of business leaders say they are concerned they are falling behind their competitors in using social media, and 25% don't know what their competitors are doing in the space.

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B2B Marketers Applying Analytics to Social Media

B2B companies are making strides in measuring social media marketing, according to separate research from BtoB Magazine and the Web Analytics Association.

Nearly one-half (48.3%) of marketers say they are already measuring the impact of social media marketing, and nearly one-quarter (24.3%) plan to increase their budgets this year to monitor public sentiment.

"It's 1993 all over again," said Jim Sterne, chairman of the Web Analytics Association. "Everybody knows that social media is important, but it's so new that only a few are measuring its business impact with any sophistication."

"Knowing who the influencers are is far more important and powerful for B2B firms than for consumer-facing companies."

Other marketing tactics now being measured by B2B marketers:

• Websites: 88%
• Email: 76%
• Mobile marketing: 18%
• Video: 14%

About the data: Findings of the SmartBrief study are from a survey of 2,700 subscribers of SmartBrief on Leadership representing a diverse set of industries. The online survey was conducted in March 2010.

Findings from Web Analytics Association and BtoB Magazine are from the online survey conducted from Jan. 21 to Feb. 12, 2010 among 679 marketing professionals, of which 69% were from B2B companies and 31% were from a combination of B2B and B2C companies.