Andrew Grinaker | Digital, SEO and Social Media Strategist Blog | Seattle, WA

To outsource or not to outsource? That seems to be the great debate and conversation topic amongst the big brands and their advertising agencies and social media consultancy firms. To cut to the chase, my belief is that the answer is Yes and NO. And depends on the capabilities of your organization and the full time resources that you have.

However, even the strongest brands and companies could use some social media help from a strategy, analytics and integration standpoint.

Let’s look at 5 determining factors to look at when analyzing the need to outsource social media and potentially your voice.

1)Your Current Social Media Situation and Reach – Analyze where you are at in the game. Are you attracting and converting business from social media channels? Have you identified the key web and conversion metrics to understand what a successful social media campaign means?

If you haven’t begun to explore social media or haven’t identified how to understand ROI, then outsourcing social media is a must. If you are involved (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) but feel that the messaging and voice aren’t on par with other areas of your business and marketing plans, then seeking out a firm to help would be recommended.

2) The Size and Capabilities of Your Staff - Does someone on your staff (community manager, social media strategist, online marketing manager) have ownership over social media channels? Is this a percentage of their role or something that has been piled on top of pre-existing responsbilities?

It is key to understand who is responsible and how much time they have to devote to developing and monitoring successful social media campaigns. Too many companies and brands dive head first into social media without identifying who is responsible and what time/effort is needed. If you can’t justify hiring someone or adjusting adequate time from someone’s schedule, then outsourcing may be needed to help fill the gaps of monitoring, listening and engaging with your social media audience.

3) The Industry and Product/Service Offerings – Does your industry and product/service offerings create opportunities for conversion? An easy example is a company that is B2C focused and has ECommerce channels. This is an obvious and easier target for social media. However, if you are a B2B business with a longer, more intimiate sales cycle, you will need to work harder and most likely need outsource (or hire full time) to understand how social media can be leveraged. Understanding how the sales process from start to finish can be affected by social media is the key to understanding if additional resources needed to be brought on.

4) Competitors – Are your competitors utilizing and leveraging social media more effectively than you are? Are you hearing about massive profits being reaped from social media channels, like Dell’s reported $6.5 Million in sales (as of Dec. 09) generated from Twitter? Review your competition and compare your reach and results to understand how much help and/or guidance may be needed outside of your staff.

5) Marketing Budgets – Outsourcing is great, but you can’t afford to hire a social media firm or a full-time employee. Sit down with your marketing and/or executive team to outline a strategy for what needs to happen in order to increase your presence through social media channels. Budget will need to be spent but if no plan is in place, it may be harder to outsource.