In a digital world where every seller is keen to reach their potential audience, get more sales, and gain more revenue, digital marketing is helping these companies in fulfilling their business goals and experiencing new heights. It has become such a common trend for businesses to contact a marketing agency, get the proposals, finalize one for their business, and proceed with the agencies’ strategies and tools, that no one thinks even to question the process. 

This is where businesses make mistakes! Signing a contract with any marketing agency without verifying their background or result rates, and even after verifying, some companies get trapped in the scammers’ trick and face unbearable scams. It becomes challenging to spot these marketing scammers from the genuine ones, so how can one know which is reliable? We took our question to Faisal Abidi, Co-Founder of RNF Technologies, a company that helps businesses in online marketing and web/mobile app development with their creative digital and tech solutions, and asked him to enlighten us on the ways to identify these scammy digital marketing agencies. 

Ways To Spot Marketing Agency Scammers, Suggested By RNF Technologies’ Faisal Abidi

• Directory Listing Scam

Businesses look for directories that are relevant and related to their industries. Considering its importance, scammers try to offer fake directories with no potential clients and never give results. Another scam related to the directory is that these marketing scammers will provide an opportunity to get your business listed in a valuable directory by asking for a considerable amount of money in return. RNF Technologies’ Faisal Abidi suggests that before believing these scammers verify whether the offered directories are of any value or just a means to get money from the businesses.   

• Fake Issues On Website

Another trick used by marketing scammers is cold-calling businesses regarding some severe issues on their websites that are affecting their Google ranking. The most prompt reaction to this is signing up with these marketing agencies to fix these issues as quickly as possible and realizing the mistake later. Instead, whenever you come across such information, verify with your web developers, ask them about the possibility of fixing it and then refer to a trustable marketing agency, says Faisal Abidi, RNF Technologies. One can even take a free consultation call with the marketing agencies before finalizing a deal.  

• False Client Portfolios

It’s widely known that reading testimonials or reviews is one of the foremost ways of learning about the people you’re investing in. This is why few marketing agency scammers frame their testimonials to sound more professional and reliable to visitors. It’s highly recommended to look for the agencies on various platforms, know their reviews and ratings, and follow their work to get a genuine picture of the company. Once you’re sure, then plan to make a move for your business. Being associated with a scam marketing company can cause a substantial financial and reputational loss to your business, highlight Faisal Abidi, who also co-founded Phonato Studios, the product development arm of RNF Technologies.   

• Offering Boost In Google Ranking

Although all the marketing and advertising agencies offer the best strategies and approaches that can boost your business profile, no genuine agency will guarantee you the outcomes. But, the companies who only want money and not the client will offer assured results within a limited time. Before believing their words, research them well before agreeing to hire them to market your business. Ask them about their strategies and solutions, and if they hesitate to share and focus on the outcomes rather than the process, it’s time to rethink your decision.  

Key Takeaways

Although these are not the only ways marketing scammers use, they can upgrade themselves with time and the needs of the people. But there’s always one single solution for all these scams, verify before agreeing to their offers, underlines Phonato Studios’ Faisal Abidi. As scammers try new tricks to trap people, we need to be even more conscious than ever to identify and report them.