Two-thirds of American small businesses use social media for marketing, but many say that lack of time and resources is a big challenge to their online efforts, according to a MerchantCircle survey of 8,500 small business owners. So when is the right time for a business to invest in an outsourced firm to handle social media?

Mashable’s Leyl Master Black shares a list of questions to consider when deciding if social media outsourcing is right for your brand, including “How do you measure ROI?”

It’s a key question. Social media ROI is not an urban business myth, and there are metrics able to pinpoint how successful a tactic or campaign might be. For example, Leyl writes that brands can measure fan base growth, redemptions for a specific offer, or social media participation, such as the number of Facebook likes.  For more about social media return on investment, check out An ROI We Can All Understand by Social Strategy1 Co-Founder Dennis Stoutenburgh.

No time, resources, or energy to obtain and analyze social media ROI metrics? Then it may be time to consider outsourcing social media.