According to its 7th annual survey, Alterian suggests that 66% of marketers plan to invest in social media over the next 12 months, but only 36% plan to monitor and analyze the success–or failure–of their efforts.

In fact, when you look at the breakdown, 40% of the 1,000 marketers surveyed plan to steal 20% or more of their traditional direct marketing budget to feed their new found social media marketing habit.

Considering Alterian recently acquired Techrigy, I’m sure they share my surprise–and maybe concern–that compared to the amount of spending planned for social media marketing, more is not being allocated towards actually monitoring and measuring that ROI.

This chart shows best the disparity between spend on each:

Yeah, I’m biased–I want you to use a social media monitoring tool–but really, would you consider launching an SEO campaign without having web analytics on your site? No? Then why would you spend hundreds of thousands on a social media marketing initiative, without monitoring your reach, response, and successes?

Of course, it could just be that these marketers are more thrifty than naive. After all, why spend thousands on media monitoring, when plans start at just $18 a month? A blatant plug, I know, but mama needs a new pair of shoes!