Social media. It’s what one Australian CEO claims has changed faster than our body of knowledge for using has grown, and you’re expected to master it. But how?

Thanks to IBM, we now have an exceptional, useful, and cutting-edge resource for understanding the nature and usage of social media in business over the coming years. This infographic provides what IBM says is: “Insights from face-to-face conversations with over 1,700 CEOs in 64 countries.” That means the world’s professionals sat down with a whole bunch of other professionals from across the world to gain professional insight into professional ways and trends in social media; it’s very professional.

So what does this mean for you? Let’s do a play-by-play of some of the fine points they listed to run down what you should be taking away from the report.

Social Media Usage Should Triple over the Next 5 years

If these 1700 CEOs are anticipating an increase, then it’s exceedingly likely not only that it’ll come, but that it has good reason to do so.

What this means for you is that if you don’t start upping the ante on your business’s social media usage soon, you’ll be setting yourself up to fall behind in the coming years.

To put that into perspective, consider other marketing trends in the past. Let’s take keywords. Keywords in content are still effective, but by the time start-ups and new site owners got onto the keyword bandwagon, the big hitters like “internet marketing company,” “best mortgage company,” and “buy apple computer” had already been so flooded that competition made it impossible for the highly searched keywords to stand out, but those who got there first had the benefit of aging and traffic on their pages.

So don’t get left behind.

F2F/Physical Customer Interaction Will Decline

13% may not seem like much, but it’s likely the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

What this means for you is that in the foreseeable future there will be continued, possibly exponential decreases in the relevancy of the physical in favor of the digital/online. Keeping up with that trend now entails ensuring that you proceed to prepare for that future, getting all of your digital ducks in a digital row to meet the ever-changing needs of the world-wide consumer.

Social Media Interaction Will Explode

That’s right, over 2.5 times the current usage. And you thought social media was important now.

What this means for you is that you’ve got to make sure your social media outlets are optimized to meet the growing consumer expectations. The more common this practice becomes, the more expected it is and the more alienating it is for the consumer if you’re not on-board. Get your media in order and start brushing up on best practices now so you’ll be ahead of the curve.

Traditional Media Will Continue to Slow

Remember when junk mail was the biggest source of spam this side of a bomb shelter? We’ve been growing away from traditional interaction for a long time.

What this means for you is that if you’re still relying on the old media outlets (radio, postal, newspaper, etc.), you’re reaching fewer and fewer people. Allocate your marketing expenses and time where they’re more likely to hit a ready audience. In case you’re not aware yet, I mean social media.