I just received an email from Marketing Charts whose main headline read:  CEO’s Big Social Media Spending Plans Continue.  “CMOs continue to project big increases in social media spending in the next 5 years,” the subhead promises.

So I click on the link and go to the story, where I eventually find the truth… just as obvious as the nose on my face.

“The survey finds that social media currently makes up an average of 7.6% of respondents’ total marketing budgets, up from 7.4% in February.” In case you are wondering, that’s “BIG” growth of just over 2%.

In fact, according to the report, the survey (which was conducted by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business) actually shows “projections are slightly down from February’s expectations.”

But wait, it gets better… and I quote: “A recent survey of 100 CMO Club members by Bazaarvoice found that slightly more than 3 in 4 are at least somewhat confident that their social efforts are having a measurable impact on sales.”

Let’s break this down:

•  They talked to 100 marketing officers, a database so small that none of the findings can be used to project broader implications.

•  They are all marketing officers, yet only 75% of them are at least somewhat confident that social efforts are having an impact on sales.

Wow.  If this e-magazine had a nose, I’d punch it just for wasting my time.