The smart folks at WetPaint,partnering with Charlene Li, have completed an amazing study on the benefits of social marketing. Their findings are confirmation that marketing investments in social marketing best practices (blogs, twitter, customer rankings, etc.) return a significant financial reward for the companies that participate.

From the report, “A surprising conclusion: While much has been written questioning the value of social media, this landmark study has found that the most valuable brands in the world are experiencing a direct correlation between top financial performance and deep social media engagement. The relationship is apparent and significant: socially engaged companies are in fact more financially successful.”