Understanding how other marketers use paid social media (ads on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) is important for anyone trying to compete in the social media marketing world. When it comes to social media, you don’t need to pay to play, but it’s a good idea to know what everyone is up to as you form your own marketing strategy. Patricia Redsicker, of Social Media Examiner recently poured over the results of a new survey by Visu,( a Nielson company) on paid social media. Incorporating some of Redsicker’s findings should help you get the best results out of your own social campaigns. Her findings include:

• 65% of marketers are increasing their paid social media ad budgets in 2013

But don’t rush out just yet to start buying social media ads until you’re fully prepared. Redsicker advises, “Paid social ads are appealing because you can use them to target the right audience, increase traffic to your website and gain new customers for your business. However, before you start using this tactic, make sure that your social media presence justifies your planned spending.”

• Currently, 89% of advertisers use free social tools

While many of this 89% also use sponsored tools (such as buying pages and ads on Facebook, Twitter and other free sites), the vast majority have a free presence as well, such as a Facebook fan page or corporate Twitter account, that are well integrated into the social media marketing campaign.

• Paid social media ads are increasingly seen as an integrating tactic

No longer are ads on a social media network viewed as their own device. Rather, a rapidly increasing number of advertisers are integrating the social media campaigns with efforts elsewhere, such as on television, on the radio or even on other online channels. Redsicker writes, “It’s not wise to put all your eggs in one basket. Cross-platform marketing allows you to spread your message across many different channels where it can reach more people and have a greater impact.”

• Marketers are struggling to measure ROI

Redsicker explains, “Marketers are investing in a wide variety of online and offline marketing channels, not just social media. Hence they want to be able to use the same kind of metrics across different platforms so that measuring their overall marketing performance can be more consistent. In fact, 42% said that they wanted the exact same metrics for their online campaigns as for their offline campaigns, “with some additional metrics specific to the online medium.”

Social media marketers should be sure to clearly define their goals, expectations or conversions before starting a campaign. If you’re looking for real-world metrics, like leads generated, then devise a campaign to reach the necessary end result. Never invest in social media (or anything else), just for the sake of investing it. Social media management tools are a great way to stay focused on the business end of your social media investment.

Now that you’ve got an idea how the average paid social media marketer thinks, how will it change your social media marketing strategy?

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