Heightened expectations about the performance of social media as a marketing channel may finally be coming back to Earth, according to a study by IBM.

The State of Marketing 2011 report was presented at a marketing event in Boston this week. CNET covered the action.

Reporting on the study, CNET said:

“Results reveal that marketers have become more practical about their expectations for both mobile and social marketing, as well as the realization that their efforts are strongly tied to IT, especially when it comes to making marketing campaigns actionable for the end-user."

Some of the survey results highlighted by CNET:

• “More than half of marketers use social media, but based on responses, their enthusiasm is tempered, suggesting that the peak of inflated expectations has passed; marketers are focused on finding the value that social channels can yield with more targeted insights and actions.

• “Nearly 60 percent of respondents listed ‘measurement, analysis, and learning’ as their top information technology bottleneck, whereas last year, they overwhelmingly viewed ‘IT support of marketing needs’ at the top.

Read the full story at CNET.