Social media continues to rapidly evolve—offering new channels and opportunities for marketers—but keeping up with the latest developments in social media takes work: 65% of advertising and marketing executives say it's somewhat or very challenging to keep up with social media trends, according to a survey from The Creative Group.

Just 35% of surveyed marketing and ad execs say they don't find it difficult to stay on top of social media trends.

Interestingly, social media is nearly equally challenging for marketing execs from both small and large organizations: 65% of those from companies with 100-249 employees say keeping up with social media is very or somewhat challenging, and 65% of those from organizations with 1,000+ employees say the same.

But advertising execs from small organizations do find it more challenging than those from larger organizations to keep up with social trends: 68% of those from agencies with 20-49 employees say it's somewhat or very challenging to do so, compared with 52% of those from agencies of 100+ employees.

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Asked to consider the single best resource for staying current on social media trends, relatively few marketing and ad execs rely on actual social media sources. Most prefer face-to-face events and meetings, citing the following:

• Conferences and seminars: 23%
• Networking events and industry association meetings: 18%
• Webinars or online training: 17%
• Trade publications: 15%
• Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn posts: 14%
• Blogs: 7%

"Networking becomes even more important during periods of rapid change," said Donna Farrugia, executive director of The Creative Group. "Many marketers are aware of broad social media trends, but they need nuts-and-bolts information on how to most effectively use new channels. That's where insight from peers on what worked and did not work for them can be most valuable."

About the data: Findings are from a nationwide telephone survey conducted by The Creative Group in May 2010 among 375 marketing executives from companies with 100+ employees and 125 ad executives from agencies with 20+ employees.