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(Article first published in Sept '08. It has been modified slightly to suit its publication on our site)
The way the world economy is at the moment has created a breeding ground for promotions companies selling a specific service with a promise of amazing results. However, the only result they typically deliver is a lighter wallet for the duped company.
As an example, I was contacted this week by a client who had been approached by 'Company A' promising him top exposure on Google for only a very small cost. Their 'service' basically used Google Adwords to deliver ads at the top of the list of search results.
There is nothing wrong with this approach overall, except for the fact that this company was promising to deliver results for a fraction of the usual cost of doing so. Having worked with Google Adwords for a number of years and run many campaigns, I have found that there are no real shortcuts or cheats when it comes to the Adwords system. So anyone promising to deliver big results for ridiculously low costs is doing something dodgy! The problem is there can be only one company on the number one spot. So the only way to get to the top spot is to either outbid them or ignore them and only bid on less popular searches. Either way, what Company A is promising just isn't possible.
With my curiosity piqued I started doing some research into this company. What I found was not good. With multiple reports of unhappy customers in various on-line forums, it seems Company A is infamous across multiple continents!
They basically take a relatively small monthly fee and setup an adwords campaign and 'hey presto', your company is at the top of the list... for a few days! After that you drop down the rankings quite rapidly. Unfortunately, by the time most companies notice this, a few months have gone by and Company A has taken a fair chunk of your money. As a marketing professional I know exactly how they achieve this (I won't bore you with the details) and I deplore it absolutely.
Let me be clear, you can have a cheap adwords campaign and you can have a high-profile adwords campaign, but you cannot normally get a cheap and high-profile campaign (the only exception is where you sell something very unique with no competition).
How Can You Protect Yourselves From Scammers?
If someone contacts you with an 'opportunity' that promises amazing results for a seemingly unbelievably low cost, you need to follow the below guidelines to ensure you don't end up paying good money to scammers.
- Don't discount it out of hand, but don't believe it immediately either.
Sometimes good deals will come your way, but don't be fooled that there isn't a hook. I will often run discounts on basic services in the hope that I might get bigger projects from a client in the future. But this is a risk on my part and not the client's. The best thing you can do is check with someone you consider is a trusted and knowledgeable contact and get their feedback as to what they would do.
- Google the company.
The best way to find out if a company is legitimate is to see if they have a lot of people complaining about them. In the case of Company A there was a ridiculous amount of complaints that could not be ignored!
- Get an alternative quote.
If you get an alternative quote or two and they are much more expensive than what Company A have quoted you, then something is wrong and alarm bells should be ringing. A Fantastic company can save you a little money here and there while delivering a superior service, but when you get into the realms of being cheaper by half the cost or more, then something has to give. This means you will not get what you are being told you are going to get.
In summary, please remember that there really is no such thing as a free lunch and these days, even cheap lunches come with some kind of hook! Be aware and be smart and you won't get duped!
Franco De Bonis has worked in the field of sales and marketing promotion since 1990 and was most recently the global marketing manager for a major international technology company before setting up DG Group in January 2007.
DG Group is dedicated to delivering all the marketing solutions any company may require. Whether it's a website or leaflets and brochures, or even some product packaging; DG Group will manage the whole project and even provide guidance along the way.
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