There’s a great meme floating around in cyberspace that says, “If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait until your hire an amateur.” And boy has the Internet ever been more on the money.
Unfortunately there are cheap and nasty ‘marketers’ out there. They’re all talk and no action. They’re no better than the ones you find on Fiverr, and if you’re a small business or just starting out, you can be fooled. But now, there’s no excuse to hire a marketing dud. Just follow these easy pointers and you’ll be able to spot a marketing doozy a mile away.
Actions speak volumes
Agencies or ‘experts’ that don’t practice what they preach are so easy to spot, when you know what to look for. Remember: if your ‘marketer’ can’t market themselves, how will they market you?
Website wasteland
First port of call, before doing any real digging, is their website. At first glance, does it look good and is it easy to navigate? Take a read of their copy. Is it catchy and enjoyable to read? On closer inspection are there grammatical mistakes, misspellings or inappropriate word use? These are all signs of attention to detail and skill. If your marketer doesn’t have a knack for digestible content, click away now.
Not very social, on social
Does your marketing expert have a presence on social media? Do they have an active and engaged audience? Check out what they post and how they post. Are they shamelessly clogging your feed with self-promotion or are they genuine content marketers that offer their audience regular value through social conversation?
Bogged blog
A marketer that doesn’t blog his or her own content isn’t a content marketer. There. I said it.
They don’t have to blog every day, or even every week. But they do have to blog consistently. And by blog, I mean educating a captive audience with context and purpose. On the flipside for marketers, a blog helps retain clients, up-sell new services, generate leads and improve search rankings. So why wouldn’t any good marketer be consistently blogging?
Reference
Before hiring an employee you would always do a reference check. So if you’re looking for an outsourced marketing department, why wouldn’t you call a selection of past and current clients? Find out first hand, what the agency is really like to work with and how they’ve worked to meet their business objectives.
Licenced to thrill: A professional has qualifications
Almost every industry is regulated these days. Marketing however is a large umbrella, with loads of different skills sets. But ask your expert what makes them an expert? Are they university qualified? Or equivalent? Have they been working in the industry long? Do they regularly attend industry courses to stay up-to-date with changes in their field? If so, what was the last course they attended? Look for a marketer with balanced qualifications and industry experience.
We understand that not everyone will be a K.I.S.S client. And that’s cool. We get it. But we’re on a mission to make sure everyone understands how to spot a genuine marketer from a phony. Because marketing is our passion. We live and breathe it. And when phonies give the good guys a bad name, it gives us the heeby jeebies. So by reading and sharing this blog, you’re helping spread the word to small business owners who might not have known better.
If you’re considering calling the pros for your next marketing project, let’s talk.
See you next week,
Darnelle
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