I remember, almost six years ago when i was working with a Retail Real Estate organization and was reporting to the CEO, i went to his cabin to find him talking to a guy who must be in his fifties and seemed to be boasting high of his knowledge and expertise in Digital Marketing. Understanding that my boss is occupied, i excused myself from the door without asking for his permission to enter.

I had recently finished my certification in Digital Marketing from MICA and was, in fact, a part of their first batch. And, i was the only one in my organization at that time who had some understanding of the online marketing tools and jargons, at that time. During a discussion with our CEO later during the day, he mentioned to me that the guy he was sitting with was saying that for a Like Campaign, we should get a like in less than 50 paise and if it’s anything more than that, we should hire his services.

Initially, i was bit surprised at this vague comment coming from someone who looked like someone with head over his shoulders. Then, i also doubted myself a little as i was quite new to the field too. Somewhere inside, i smelled something fishy in this whole argument made by him and also informed my boss that there is no such formula to restrict cost per like and it is a function of multiple factors used while setting up campaign targeting.

Now, after six years when i look back and remember that incident, i realize how some overconfident blabbermouths are spoiling the market for the genuine agencies. In our last 4+ years of The CLICKS Technologies (TCT), I have come across many brands and companies who have burnt their fingers at least once or twice dealing with agencies or freelancers who promised them wonders but fell flat on their face when the time to execute and show results came. Eventually, they had to let go of these fake digital marketers.

You would think, it’s good for other agencies if these organizations had to let go of their past service providers as this would mean they are a potential client now. But, that’s not really as simple as it looks. These organizations come with a closed mindset scared to trust another person or firm that calls itself a Digital Marketing Expert. They also want to spend lessser on online marketing now than what they were open to spend initially. They become overly sensitive and take a lot of time to trust the newly appointed service provider. It puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on the new agency when they take up the work as first the client needs to be pulled up from the ditch it had fallen into and then pushed up towards the path of a successful relationship.

Point is, if you are looking for a digital marketing agency, please beware of the fake blabbermouth types. They will not only waste your money but also make it difficult for you to onboard another agency with an open mind. I have listed down few pointers that you can keep in mind to identify such agencies that need to be looked at with caution. Here you go:

1. If they seem to be overpromising and overconfident without trying to understand your product/ services and TG properly.
2. If they are ready to work at a very low fee. Generally, those who are skilled like to feel respected for their talent and the fee you pay is the sign of respect for the service provided. Those who are ready to go low to any level to grab the opportunity do not have any quality or service standards as well.
3. If they are not ready to discuss numbers and estimated results. Although, nobody can assure you of any results and it’s all estimations based on the projections shared by various digital marketing tools, it’s still possible to discuss some numbers to ensure everyone is on the same page
4. If they try to use lot of technical jargons instead of trying to simplify things for your understanding. This will be a pattern with them while onboard as well. They will give excuses for non-performance using technical jargons and will keep you confused.
5. If they promise you some extraordinary results. This will only be possible for them by doing some kind of sham. For ex: if an agency promises you an exact number of leads every month, they will buy some database and add some to the genuinely generated leads to fulfil the numbers.
6. If they are okay to run lead generation campaigns for you at very low cost per lead. There is a chance they will be sharing those leads with other organizations too to make their moneis for the effort put in.
7. If you see a ‘yes man’ talking to you. If they are agreeing to everything you say or want, you are in for lot of surprises later.
8. If you find no depth in their knowledge of Digital Marketing but mostly superficial understanding of it.

There could be many more pointers that can be added to this list. Please feel free to share your set of pointers in the comment section below.

I also see many organizations evaluating an agency by the number of employees it has and lot of agencies boasting of the fact that they have X number of employees. It shouldn’t really make a difference if the team put to manage and execute marketing for your business is a mediocre one.

I remember when one of the start-up founder from Hyderabad called me one day, after reading my book ‘MARKETING: :Tricks of the Trade They Won’t Teach You at B-Schools’ completely heartbroken and about to give up on his business. He was cheated by so-called digital marketing experts/ agencies twice and wasn’t sure whom to trust anymore. He read my book and felt some sense of confidence in me and approached me. Of course, we took up the challenge and gave him results beyond his expectations. That story, let me keep for another time.

Be careful how you pick up a growth partner for yourself!

– Adit Chouhan