Social marketing has been all the rage in the online marketing world. There have been, of course, debates back and forth on the validity, usefulness, and staying-power of the medium, but that is not the focus of this article. The focus here is whether or not this is a medium in which a busy company can delegate to others.

SEO is a crucial component of the modern company's online marketing strategy. It requires time, continuous work, and an in-depth knowledge of search engines and the proper, ethical techniques to reach the top of the search engine results pages.

Not a lot of businesses were - or are - in a position to take care of this work in-house, so they turned to the many SEO companies that were capable of doing this for them.

It was not a bad idea. A good SEO company is uniquely positioned to provide the services required to develop a strong online marketing campaign. With their research methods they could discern the best keywords to target, create related, authoritative content, and recruit the links to improve rankings.

But now social media marketing keeps popping up. All the cool kids are doing it. So why aren't you?

Or at least that's the impression that often accompanies the discussions on this marketing technique.

But again, many businesses simply don't have the time/patience/knowhow to get it done in-house. So the question still stands: can you outsource social marketing?

Taking advantage of the social marketing channels can be a great way to reach out to an entire culture of customers. But it has to be done right, or the entire culture could just as easily turn on you and ensure that you never sell another item in this industry.

The answer to the title question lies somewhere in that statement. People have gathered into these social communities to share in their enjoyment of a product or industry. Nevertheless that doesn't mean they want to suffer through blatant and obtrusive advertisements. A community, even a virtual community, will naturally pull together to defend themselves from anyone or anything that is seen as a threat to their normal way of being.

So when someone who doesn't belong in the community tries to insert themselves in the name of making a buck, that person could very likely experience some pretty severe backlash.

Advertising is generally viewed as a necessary evil in these days. Something that is there and will always be there. Certain things don't get funded without advertising. It's just something we've come to expect.

A community, however, may expect it, but that doesn't mean they have to accept it.

What does this mean in a social marketing environment? Keep in mind that this is a community that is already interested in your industry. So why wouldn't they be open to your advertising?

The truth is that sometimes they are, and sometimes they are not.

That sounds like dissemination, but, in fact, it is not. Your advertising simply has to change direction.

In a community an advertisement can be detrimental. A suggestion, maybe even a recommendation, however, can carry a lot of weight. But only if it comes from a member of the community. That is the only way that you can build enough trust to add validity to the recommendation.

So can this sort of marketing be outsourced? It would seem that the answer is a mix of yes and no. No, because if you turn to someone outside your industry, they automatically start on the outside of the community. And if they try to fake it, the backlash can be horrible.

But if you can understand the time requirements, another company could legitimately become part of the community. But the time required to get to know the industry and the community can be too restrictive. But if you understand that and still see the benefit, then the choice is yours.