In an ideal world, every marketing department has an unlimited budget and endless time to spend on social media but that’s not really a reality for most businesses. Outsourcing sometimes gets a bad rap but it’s often the best strategy for businesses who want the most bang for their limited marketing buck. We’ll get to what to look for in an outsourcing arrangement in a minute, but first let’s talk about what outsourcing is not. If you want to use someone outside the company to manage your social media, make sure you don’t: • Put your accounts in the hands of someone in a drastically different time zone than your target demographic. You want to rapid responses to questions or comments from your fans and followers; an hour or two at most during standard business hours. That’s unlikely to happen if your social media managers are snoozing in Australia as you start your workday in Seattle.