How to Recognize AND Avoid a Social Media Snake Oil Salesman!
 by Casey Markee

How to Recognize AND Avoid a Social Media Snake Oil Salesman!

  • We've been contacted by purported social media experts to help grow our influence on multiple occasions. However, more than once, the results were terrible and we found out through closer study that all we received were paid Facebook likes or Twitter followers and very little in the way of actual social media assistance. Are there some tips you can provide on how we can recognize a quality provider or company from one that is clearly not?

Social Media Snake Oil GraphicAnswer: This is a very good question and one that we did cover recently in the Social Media and Reputation Management training. It's amazing how many self-titled social media experts are out there these days. If you recall, during one of our presentations we equated the common social media expert with that of seeing a unicorn: it clearly doesn't happen very often.

The best social media professionals don't usually refer to themselves as experts. In fact, many of us here at SearchEngineNews will readily admit that although we do social media marketing on a daily basis, it's always shocking to discover how much we DON'T know, and several of us have been training other SEO and social media professionals for years.

In fact, we'd posit the belief that unless OTHERS call someone a social media expert, it should be a flogging offense to refer to yourself as such on your Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn profile. As the writer of this article, I'd certainly not refer to myself in that way but, if anyone reading this would like to do so I'd readily accept (just send out a Tweet or Facebook post so there's evidence, thanks).

Clearly, in your case, if your provider's idea of social media marketing was con...

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