A recent survey indicated that while marketers turn to Facebook for outreach, ads don’t seem to be a top priority, and the social network is to blame.

AdAge conducted a survey of 658 subscribers, made up of marketers, agency and media executives, and various consultants and other members of the marketing ecosystem.

Nearly 86 percent of those surveyed said they currently use Facebook as part of their marketing strategy. However, only 55 percent say they currently advertise on the social network, and about 88 percent said they would implement Facebook content without advertising at all.

The results don’t come as much of a surprise to AdAge, considering many marketers have already admitted to Facebook ads being more of an option, not a necessity. Most notably, auto giant General Motors recently decided to pull its advertising dollars from the social network.

It also seems like marketers aren’t sure how to measure the impact of their efforts. A majority said clicks and Likes were the most important metrics to track, but when it came to driving purchase intent, nearly 20 percent said they “don’t know” if Facebook is useful — more than 13 percent said it’s “not useful.”

Other major concerns seem to lie in data — specifically the lack of data provided to marketers — “inferior” customer support, and a lack of helpful analytics. When asked what it would take to make Facebook a more useful platform, one respondent said, “Better analytics and better customer support, like Google’s AdWords.”

In terms of social media marketing, nearly 50 percent said their budgets were less than 10 percent. While 72 percent expect that number to increase, only 56.6 percent believed their Facebook advertising budget would increase as well — 40 percent believed it would stay the same.

It’s still tough to give one definitive answer whether Facebook ads pay off long-term for small businesses and brands. One thing that is for sure is that the social network will have to work harder to provide marketers with necessary data and tools.

[Via: AdAge, Image credit: cohdra]