Businesses are expected to prioritize social media marketing even more in 2011, according to a new report from the CMO Council that highlights the importance of leveraging social media content.

More than one-third of the chief marketing officers polled indicated they plan to spend more of their marketing budgets on social platforms, making the channel a stronger part of their comprehensive promotional efforts.

The increased focus on social media comes at a time when many businesses are striving to assess the value of their marketing efforts. The CMO Council notes that 48 percent of companies are actively trying to grow their capabilities and improve measurements. Meanwhile, 7 percent are questioning the value and quality of click-throughs and 17 percent believe they could be doing a better job of converting site visitors into leads or customers.

Social media content has been proven to help businesses better engage customers. For example, Brafton reported that an InboxQ survey found prospects were more likely to buy from a company that interacted with them on Twitter and answered their questions.

However, providing valuable content is still a struggle for some companies. According to a recent Forrester Research report, only 3 percent of businesses believe they “wow” clients with their content marketing efforts.