Social Media Examiner recently released their 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. The report is the result of a survey of over 3300 marketers with the goal of understanding how they are are using social media to grow and promote their businesses.

The report is very well done and I’d encourage everyone to read it. It is 41 pages in length however so if you just don’t have the time, we’re here to provide you with some of the more interesting results:

• 90% of marketers indicated that social media is important for their business.
• 50% of those surveyed stated that they have less than 1 year of social media marketing experience.
• Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs were the top four social media tools used by marketers, in that order.
• 58% are using social media for 6 hours or more each week, while 34% invest 11 or more hours weekly.
• 77% of marketers plan on increasing their use of YouTube and video marketing, making it the top area marketers will invest in for 2011.
• 88% stated that the number-one advantage of social media marketing is generating more business exposure. Increased traffic (72%) and improved search rankings (62%) were also major advantages.
• The top question marketers most want answered is- how do I monitor, measure and track the ROI of social media activities?
• 45% of people who’ve only invested 12 months or less in social media marketing report new partnerships were gained.
• The percentage of those who are outsourcing their social media efforts has doubled since the 2010 report, from 14% to 28%.

How does your business use social media and do you have an answer to the most asked question? We’d love to hear your thoughts!