Many social media marketers today find themselves at a challenging crossroads–social platforms are growing increasingly complex, with more features, formats and content types, and audiences’ expectations for social content are developing alongside these platforms. On top of these growing demands, many social teams are increasingly pressed for time to dig through the wealth of data available to them and develop all-encompassing social strategies.

Social marketers who are on the frontlines of their feeds day in and day out have the data to understand better than anyone what content is resonating most powerfully with audiences and exactly who makes up those audiences. This leads to important insights about how social can fuel bottomline growth and organizational development. Social teams are also the first to note what trends are shaping the future of social, as well as customer insights that can shift an entire brand strategy.

Despite these valuable insights, social marketers are often overwhelmed between the demands of relatively small team sizes and the variety of daily tasks and ongoing tactical execution. This limits the full potential that social media marketers have to tell data-driven stories, collaborate with other teams, influence strategy and be crucial drivers of real business growth.

In the latest Sprout Social Index: Empower & Elevate, we uncover how marketers can take social strategies to the next level and how social teams can demonstrate impact across their organizations with the right support. While you dig into all of the data in this latest Index report, here are nine key stats you can bring to your boss right away to demonstrate why social media marketers are a business’s most valuable resource.