Jupiter Research has a new report out on social media that shows 48% of marketers plan on using such tools in their communications mix next year (up 10% on last year).

"To capitalise on social marketing, marketers must harness brand advocates to penetrate social networking sites," the report says.

Author Emily Riley: "“Thirty percent of frequent social networkers trust their peers’ opinions when making a major purchase decision, but only ten percent trust advertisements. Consequently, brand marketers must harness brand advocates and influentials by providing additional motivation for frequent networkers to engage in social marketing."