Experts. Experts everywhere.
You’ve probably already come across a few marketing and PR ‘experts’ in your time. They once got a story in a local paper so claim they’re a PR pro, maybe they have a Facebook AND Twitter account, which obviously makes them a ‘social media guru’.
They may well know a tiny bit more about modern marketing than the average person, but they’re far from being a genuine expert. And while the main attraction will be that they’re cheap, using them will ultimately just be a waste of your money.
It’s easy to spot one of these self-proclaimed experts though. Here are our top tips:
- How business minded are they and how well do they promote themselves? If they don’t have any pride in their own business they won’t have any in yours. Things to look out for:
- Grammar and spelling mistakes in their content
- Low-quality printed material
- Overuse of jargon or abbreviations
- Lack of attention to detail
- How is their social media presence? How can someone who claims to be a social media expert not have a proper business presence of their own. They don’t need to be on all platforms, some might not be suitable, but how well do they use the ones they do?
- They pass off paid content as PR work. We’ll be covering this in more detail in a future blog, but a properly accredited and honest PR professional will never pass off an advertisement or advertorial as editorial. Paying for media coverage is not public relations and it is not the balanced editorial you are paying them to secure. Anyone who tries to pass it off as PR work is not only being dishonest but effectively charging you double – and this can ultimately tarnish your reputation too.
- Does their business look legitimate? It doesn’t take long to put together a website these days and anyone can add a few logos to a page of apparent clients. But are there comments and quotes from those clients confirming they were happy with the work? Does the ‘expert’ have a proper business email address or do they use a web based service? Any of these things could point to terrible advice and service, or worse.
- Is the website to the standard you’d be happy with for yourself? While they may not be a web designer, they should have excellent writing-for-web skills and show how important it is to have a high-quality online presence. Their site will be easy to navigate and their content will be clear, informative, and full of evidence to back up their claims. They will have high quality images and any logos from clients will be partnered with quotes or comments from the businesses they have worked with.
Sadly there will always be people who will claim to be experts, and every sector will have their own versions of those who try and pass themselves off as something they are not.
If you want to make sure your marketing budget really does work hard for you, then you need to be sure you’re spending it on the right people.
The tips above will help you avoid those who are being less than honest with you (and themselves) and help you find those who truly are the experts professionals you need.
Get in touch with Hutch PR and expertly take control of your own reputation.
