• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, October 4, 2011

As illustrated by heaps of sweepstakes and sad pleas to "Like us!" on Facebook, social marketing clearly still suffers from a lack of expertise.

That is bound to change, however, as marketers on both the agency and client side race to hire social specialists and devote more resources to understanding the space.

Across sectors, 96% of companies said they expect to increase investment in social media-related capabilities, according to a new study from consulting firm Booz & Company on behalf of Facebook marketing firm Buddy Media.

Among some 100 companies surveyed, 57% said they are concentrating their efforts on hiring new people. Specifically, 72% are planning to invest in creative and editorial talent; 59% are targeting community management; and 43% plan to upgrade their analytical resources.

Companies "are actively transforming their model for marketing from one of 'brand management' to 'brand curation'," said Christopher Vollmer, partner and leader of Booz & Company's Media and Entertainment Practice.

"This new model is more dynamic and real-time, but also more iterative as well as content- and people-intensive," Vollmer added. "Specifically, it requires marketers to develop deeper capabilities in content development to connect with target consumers."

To support such efforts, most marketers plan to increase their spending on social media, Booz reports.

Today, 89% of respondents said social media counts for less than 10% of their overall digital marketing spend. In 2014, 45% of respondents said they expect social to account for less than 10% of their digital budget, while 28% believe social will grow to be 20% or more of their digital budgets.

Where will these resources come from? Among respondents, 79% said funding for social media will come out of their digital budgets -- rather than more traditional channels like TV, print, or radio. (It's likely, however, that digital will continue to cannibalize traditional budgets.)

Leadership of social media is concentrated in the marketing function, Booz reports, as 81% of respondents said the marketing department is responsible for social media.

Today, just 35% of companies claim to have a dedicated head of social media, although 50% agree this role is critical to social media success.

Further illustrating its perceived importance, 38% of companies said that social media is a CEO-level priority.

Currently, advertising, PR and customer service are where companies are capturing the greatest benefits from social media, as 96% of respondents said they are using social media for "advertising and promotions." Eighty-eight percent said PR, and 75% said customer service.

When asked where they see the most benefit from social media, 90% of companies said "brand building;" 89% said "interactivity;" 88% said "buzz building;" and 81% said "consumer insights."

Going forward, companies said they are exploring the value of social media outside of marketing. In particular, 56% of respondents said they are using social media to support market research; 40% for product development efforts; and 24% are using it for internally focused communications to employees.

What's more, 48% of respondents said they were using social media for sales and commerce, while 38% already claimed to have metrics in place to track this kind of transaction value.