Popularity and expertise are not quite the same things. If you are in the market for a digital marketing expert, try to ensure that the person you choose is an actual expert. Let me walk you through the process of, what happens when you don’t use digital marketing experts.
Digital marketing experts understand other marketing platforms
If your digital marketing expert does not cover the relationship of social marketing to other platforms, metrics and marketing tactics, then that should be a red flag.
Remember…
At heart, a social media marketing expert is a marketer who specializes in social platforms, not one who only understands social platforms!
Digital online marketing is a complexity of the relationship between many different platforms, so what happens when you don’t let the experts do your digital marketing? Having at least an understanding of how all those factors work together is essential to every client’s success rate.
What is the result of not using Digital Marketing Experts?
If you are attempting to grow and develop your business, it is no surprise that digital marketing can help you get real measurable results! Even better if you get actual digital marketing experts to do the job for you.
The key is to gain exposure and present your company in a way that is authentic and provides the highest value to the customer.
How can you do that?
The best way to achieve the above and further the growth of your business is through digital marketing…
What the fake Digital Marketing Experts aren’t telling you…
I recently had a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine over coffee…
Yes, as usual, it was about digital marketing and human behaviour of course. But this time, I was more focused on social media and Facebook lead generation.
And no, my conversations don’t start with me saying: “Hi Jack, how is your digital marketing going for your new business?”.
Not at all.
The conversations tend to drift that way, as I am genuinely interested in business and the growth and development of people.
And because I am a fixer, when there is a problem, I start asking: “Have you tried this, or approached these companies?” etc.
So, back to my friend, who we will call “Jack” due to confidential reasons. Obviously.
Jack wrote his first book over a year ago and had it published shortly after that. Jack and I had just recently become friends, so once he told me about his book…
The natural next question for me was, “That’s amazing, how well is the book doing?”
The dark side of digital marketing
I wish I had perhaps handled this question with a bit less eagerness.
As the excitement of Jack, telling me about his book, slowly drained from his face when I asked the above question…
Now, please don’t get me wrong…
I like to think of myself as a highly sensitive and emotionally intelligent person. If he hadn’t sounded so excited about his book while he was telling me about it, I would definitely have been more careful with the conversation to follow. It would have been clear, that things weren’t going as well as he had hoped, and I would have tread more carefully.
He said he had some sales, but they were slow, and the book had not done as well as he had wanted it to.
So, naturally, I realised I could help him…
I started asking how he was marketing the book, if was he doing it himself or if was he using a professional company to do digital marketing for him.
He told me that the company he was paying to do his digital marketing, was supposed to be the best in the business, that’s what they said…
I thought okay great, at least he is being clever and paying digital marketing “experts” to do it for him.
Definitely a step in the right direction.
Important questions to consider
But I couldn’t help but wonder…
I then started asking the questions that one should be asking before hiring a digital marketing expert:
- I asked Jack if he knew which channels, they were using to market for him, he had no idea
- Then, I asked him how many ads they were running for him for the amount he was paying, again, he had no clue
- Furthermore, I asked how the payment structure worked, he also didn’t know, he only knew how much they charged him for their services
He paid R 2 000 for their services.
Some food for thought
Any digital marketing business should be able to tell you what they are doing with the money you pay.
It’s important to know that if they are charging you a small amount per month, then they are leaving no room for your paid ads to really bring in leads, because let’s be honest, getting quality leads, is going to cost you way more than just 2 k a month, never mind their services.
Are you getting value for your money?
As previously mentioned above…
Paying 2K a month on your social media ads alone – will barely bring in enough leads for you. Never mind quality leads which you can actually turn into sales.
Also, if 2K a month can’t even pay rendered services, then where is your money going, to get more leads or to just pay someone’s salary?
So, after hearing Jack’s response to my questions…
My mind immediately went…
Something is very wrong here!
If a strategy doesn’t build up your products and business in the long term…
Then why would you spend your hard-earned cash on it?
Perhaps, because you don’t know better.
Ignorance?
Let’s go with lack of knowledge, what happens when you don’t let the experts do your digital marketing?
This is why your selection process is so important when it comes to hiring a digital marketing expert!
Communication is everything. You need to try to see your digital marketing expert, as a person whom you are dating. And how do we generally get to have a good relationship?
By proper communication!
How to find digital marketing experts
So, before you even hire a business to do your digital marketing for you, you need to test the waters before sealing the deal.
Similar to a first date, you want to actually make sure that the person:
- One isn’t a bunny boiler
- And two, have all their ducks in a row, marbles together, or whichever other analogy explains that they have proven to not be “loco” (crazy).
So, yes…
Interview them!
But obviously, on a date, you would make it a little less obvious, but in the business world, be clear, and obvious.
Because you have every right to know where, when and how they will be spending your money!
You really do want a digital marketing agency that:
- Is communicating properly
- Keeping you updated the entire time of the negotiation process
- As well as continuing this process after signing you up as a client
You want digital marketing experts who are going to be on the ball at All Times!
So, ask them:
- Could I expect weekly calls?
- Can I rely on reports?
- Will there be regular email communication?
- Find out which metrics they use
- And what the end goal for their digital marketing strategy for your business would be
Digital marketing metrics
You need to have an understanding of how the digital marketing expert will communicate with you. As well as, which success metrics, KPIs (key performance indicators), and analytics they will use to justify their monthly fees.
A good rule of thumb when considering digital marketing experts…
If the reports don’t look like a human has ever touched them, they’re probably not that helpful to your business.
Sure, automated systems have their role in business, but you’re not hiring robots to market for you, you’re hiring people.
Make sure that you’re familiar with the metrics that will be used in reporting on your campaign, otherwise, it will be like reading a foreign language for you.
And believe me…
These reports can be confusing even to the best of us!
Otherwise, you’re not going to know what’s happening with your account. The last thing that you want to be doing is throwing money at a company and getting nothing in return. You might as well be burning money.
If you don’t ask these things up front, then you are basically paying a business to run yours into the ground.
So, here is your challenge…
There really isn’t much left to say here…
Those who are not using digital marketing experts will be in for a surprise. Digital marketing will help you grow and expand your reach and without expert knowledge your cash and business days are limited. You will be closing your doors sooner than you thought!
If you need assistance with digital marketing click on this link and contact us.
