Nearly Half Of Business Leaders Plan To Increase Their Social Media Budgets In The New Year

Social Media Insights is a daily newsletter from BI Intelligence delivered first thing every morning exclusively to BI Intelligence subscribers. Sign up for a free trial of BI Intelligence today.

---

BIG YEAR AHEAD FOR SOCIAL MEDIA: Approximately 46% of "business leaders" said they plan to increase their social media budgets in 2014 (following only email), according to a survey from StrongView, a marketing solutions provider.

The survey respondents work in companies of various sizes and across a range of industries. Although their job functions were not revealed, we suspect that many of them work in marketing or advertising, because they opted to participate in a marketing survey.

More business leaders said they plan to increase they social media budgets than those who plan to do so for search (41%). (StrongView)

In Other News ...

FACEBOOK ENFORCES 20% RULE: Facebook reminded page administrators that images in ads can contain no more than 20% text. The company has "improved the accuracy" of the way it measures text in images, so it appears Facebook will be stricter about the rule going forward. (Inside Facebook)

SKYPE HACKED: The Syrian Electronic Army reportedly hacked Skype's Twitter account, Facebook page, and blog. The company has since regained control of its social media properties. (The Next Web)

SNAPCHAT DATA BREACH: Approximately 4.6 million Snapchat users names and partial phone numbers have been leaked. The exploit occurred just days after a security research firm warned the public of a flaw in Snapchat's code. (The Verge)

TIME TRAVELING THROUGH TWITTER: Researchers at Cornell University searched Twitter for prescient terms that might reveal the presence of a time traveling Internet user. However, no time travelers were discovered. (Cornell)

BUMP SHUTS DOWN: Google is shutting down Bump, an app that let users share information with other people by simply tapping their smartphones together. Google acquired the company back in September. (Bump Blog)

What You May Have Missed On BI Intelligence …

[CHART] Pinterest Is Enjoying A Growth Spurt From U.S. Desktop Users

[CHART] The Slowdown In Christmas App Download Growth Is A Microcosm Of The Smartphone Market's Maturation

[CHART] Facebook Pages Have Been Enjoying Record Engagement Levels, But That's About To Change

[CHART] iOS Dominates Christmas Day Mobile Commerce Sales In The US