Don’t get social media? Outsource it.

Telemarketing is out and social media is the marketer’s new weapon of choice. At least according to outsourcing marketplace Freelancer.com.

Think outsourcing, and add it together with an online market for staff, mostly from India, and most people would automatically think telemarketing. But it turns out telemarketing jobs dropped by 20 per cent on Freelancer.com last quarter as outsourcers shifted their attention to social media

Freelancer measures the type of jobs being posted on its site and last quarter telemarketing jobs fell from 1169 to 933. It seems getting a Facebook fan page designed is far more attractive to businesses, with Facebook fan page development work lifting 8 per cent to a staggering 4,622 jobs in Q2. Other more general social networking related work lifted by 13 per cent in the same period.

“Our data allows us to see changes in the world of online work and provides the ability to predict upcoming trends” says Freelancer.com chief executive Matt Barrie, and he’s predicting an ongoing shift in the way businesses market their products and services, with more and more companies supplementing their traditional website with a more high profile social media presence.

One organisation that should be taking note is Telstra-owned search network Sensis. Sensis recently revamped its business, seeking to offset the decline in its print directory business with more online sales. It’s also seeking to help businesses better understand how to use social media.

Recent research commissioned by Sensis found only 14 per cent of small businesses, 25 per cent of medium-sized businesses and 50 per cent of large businesses have a social media presence, and social media usually attracts less than five per cent of a business’ total marketing budget.

So it’s no surprise Sensis sales people are now spending time explaining the benefits and pitfalls of social media to the business owners and marketers they talk to every day. The company sees this as part of the extra value it’s now delivering customers, part of the package of services it’s offering that includes digital media and search advertising – quite a leap from the directory advertising driven business it used to run.

But in the new world of online marketing organisations can now outsource the development of a social media profile and following for as little as $30. You can view the hundreds of companies looking for someone to help them here. Such as this very specific request for 50,000 Twitter followers and 10,000 Facebook fans from the US and UK only. Or this ad from a gaming company for a person to manage all of the company’s social media accounts, and specifically boost sales. Current bid: $US874, which assuming one month’s part time work equates to about $US7.28 an hour. You could argue this job could be done part-time – but it’s a revenue share deal, so fail to deliver real sales and the money you make could drop dramatically.

Forget building a brand – these business owners are looking for direct results, and there’s no shortage of people willing to help them do it on the cheap.

The gap between those companies with no social media presence and those outsourcing it on Freelancer is obviously a wide one. But with online outsourcing sites like Freelancer attracting more attention, the case for well paid Sensis executives providing advice on social media is diminishing.

Looking for a social media strategy and plan you can implement yourself? You can get one on Freelancer for under $US150. Want a professional YouTube video created and some likes to go with it? You won’t need a budget of more than $US250. Welcome to the new online economy.