Digital Marketing Expert or “Expert?”

I have been traveling over the last week, speaking at certain Digital Marketing events, reading some of the industry blogs as well and doing a lot of assessments for potential clients. Just like the very brilliant commercial for Holiday Inn, where someone steps in to save the day with expertise gained by sleeping at the Holiday Inn, I am stunned at is the amount of misinformation that is being proposed to customers in person and online under the guise of Digital Marketing Experts.

When I was an actor for many years, I would run across many “actors” in the bars who claimed to be working but really were not. They talked a good game or fell in love with the idea of being an actor, not the reality of the work to become one.

I wrote previously that there are many marketers out there who can sell the concept of Digital Marketing without any real results. Preying on the ignorance of potential customers gets me going because it makes it harder for those of us who are doing things in a transparent manner.

If a marketer happened to be successful doing something for themselves or their own website (getting it to rank for an obscure keyword, doing direct match searches to show success etc.) does it mean they understand the nuances of a certain industry? Do they have multiple successes based on their client list past and present? Gaming the system and them glorifying the results does not make you a Digital Marketing Expert.

Beware Outdated Digital Marketing “Experts” Claims

I went to a potential customer’s office to discuss how we could be of service. They were selling a consumer product and during our discussion  he shared what another vendor had suggested in terms of strategy. Holy 2008 Batman!!!

First they had many strategies listed that many including myself now considers outdated SEO. The other proposal also talked about keyword reporting but had no tools to accomplish this, seeing as Google has now blocked many keywords form showing in analytics.

Lastly, this Digital Marketing Expert claimed that could guarantee them placement on the first page of Google and other search engines.

Why I am pointing this out was with so many companies claiming to be Digital Marketing Experts how is one to know?

Here are few questions to ask your Digital Marketing “Expert”

1. How are you staying current with all the changes in Search?
2. Can you give me examples of your success and clients I can speak with?
3. Can you explain your month to month strategy specifically?
4. How will you report your progress?
5. How often will we be discussing reports and strategy?
6. Are you available when I need you?

What I feel you should be getting from your marketing partners is a company that is at the forefront of any change that will affect search. Be it Google’s Hummingbird update, new content strategies, new ways to create optimized landing pages as well as how to unify the offline marketing with the online marketing. Your digital marketing partner has to be aware of all changes that are going on and weave them into their strategy or else it will adversely affect your being found by your customers.

Beware of the supposed Digital Marketing Experts. Just because they market well or claim to be #1 in does not mean they really can deliver results and by the time you realize it, how much have you lost?

 

Glenn Pasch is the current CEO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker  and Management Trainer.

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