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Top 6 Deceptions That Digital Marketing Companies Use

Marketing is highly sales-driven and some companies are willing to say just about anything to close a deal. And because of the nature of digital marketing, it may take months before you realize that you have been deceived. Sound familiar?

Common Digital Marketing Red Flags To Look Out For:

1.  Claiming to get your keywords ranked in 1 month.

– INSTANT RED FLAG. It takes at least 3 months to start seeing real keyword results.

2. Claiming all web development is done in the U.S.

– HIGHLY UNLIKELY. Most marketing teams, even the big ones, outsource their web development projects to overseas teams and pay them pennies on the dollar, but few are willing to admit that.

3. All 5-star reviews…

– EASY TO FAKE YELP REVIEWS. How legitimate are their Yelp and Google reviews? A normal distribution of scores should include some 4 stars and even some 3s.  Only 5 stars and some scary 1s and 2s…hmmmm.

4. Have they ever operated under another name?

– CHANGING NAMES or having multiple names at once is very easy for a digital marketing company to do.  Do a little digging, and find out just who exactly it is you are dealing with.

5a. Claiming that they are experts in your industry

– Digital marketing companies often claim to be experts in your industry to help build value. However, their client rosters are usually an amalgam of myriad different industries and they usually know little to nothing about your industry.

5b. Claiming that their content writers are writing original content

– SPINNING CONTENT is very common in the digital marketing field. Again, they have very little knowledge of your industry so usually their writers just “spin” or reword other people’s content on the web and call it their own, which does not help your SEO.

6. The Sales Team promises

– THE SALES TEAM might be really convincing and promise you the world but they most likely get nowhere near your project once you sign the contract, so make sure that you get to know your project manager and their team before you sign up and make sure they can deliver what the salesperson promised you.

x.  There are so many misrepresentations that digital marketing companies use that we can’t list them all here. Contact My Marketing Auditors today if you want to learn more.

So How Do I Know What Marketing Team To Trust?

Of course, you should do a thorough background check and ask for recommendations, but I recommend scheduling an in-house meeting to meet your marketing team before signing anything. Often meeting someone in person offers a perspective that doesn’t communicate over the phone and eye contact and a handshake can tell you a lot about someone. While you are there, tour the facilities, meet some of the employees. What does the company culture seem like? Just get a feel for the team and the company in general, go home and think about it for a day, let it all sink in, thin slice it, then make your decision.

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