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A survey of 250 U.K. marketing professionals has found that social media is still not given enough importance by marketers.

The survey, which was conducted in Oct – Nov 2009by by Creston plc, found that 80% of the respondents felt that social media does not have any impact on their brands at the current moment.

Surprisingly, it was also found that so far, almost two-thirds of marketers surveyed had no plans to introduce social media into their marketing strategy.

Only 14% of those interviewed, agreed that social media has an important role to play in marketing at present, and affects their brand reputation. The same attitude to social media was also seen with respect to product development and gaining new customers.

Two-thirds of those surveyed also felt that their company’s board of directors did not understand social media, and 88% said the board chooses not to support social media mfarketing efforts.

While a third of the marketers felt that they should take the lead regarding social media, others were not clear about who should lead.

Surprisingly, though, 88% believe that it will have an effect on their business in future. 71% believe it will affect market share. 79% believe it will affect customer retention and acquisition and 70% believe it will last in the long run and is not just a passing fad.

Don Elgie, CEO of Creston plc said, “80% of UK’s online population are now using social media, and the concern is that many marketing professionals are ignoring the impact social media activity could have right now on both their business and their own careers.