Why Unqualified Social Media Marketers are Taking Over: An Expert Chimes In

By Sitetrail Research Team

Social media marketing is essential for any business looking to grow its customer base and increase engagement with its target audience. Unfortunately, there are a lot of unqualified “experts” out there who are taking advantage of small business owners who don’t know any better.

To get some expert insight on this topic, we talked to Tonya Sanchez, a Social Media Marketer at BlakSheep Creative in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Here’s what she had to say about the prevalence of unqualified social media marketers and what you can do to protect your business from them.

The Dangers Of Unqualified Marketers

According to Tonya, unqualified marketers can do more harm than good regarding social media marketing. She cautions that businesses should be wary of anyone who claims they can guarantee results or provide overnight success on social media platforms.

“Social media marketing is not a quick fix,” she explains. “It takes time and dedication.” Unqualified marketers may promise quick results but fail to deliver because they lack the knowledge or experience to effectively manage a company’s campaigns and accounts.

Another danger of working with an unqualified marketer is that they may not have the necessary training regarding data privacy laws and regulations.

This means that if something goes wrong—such as a breach of customer data—the business could face costly fines or even legal action if they’ve been negligent in managing their campaign properly.

What are the adverse effects of unqualified social media marketers?

Tonya says that the adverse effects of unqualified social media marketers can be far-reaching and include loss of customers, wasted time and money, potential legal issues due to data privacy violations, and damage to a company’s reputation.

For example, an unqualified marketer may use tactics that could violate a platform’s terms of service, leading to account suspensions or bans. They may also post content that reflects poorly on the company and turns off potential customers.

Or you could end up like Bang:

“What happened with Bang Energy was avoidable. They could have avoided a lawsuit altogether if they had known a few things about music and copyrights.” Tonya says.

Read this post at Reuters to learn more about the Bang Energy lawsuit and why some research could have prevented it.

How To Spot An Unqualified Marketer

Tonya advises businesses to check references before hiring someone who claims they’re an expert in social media marketing.

It’s also crucial for businesses to make sure that the person or agency they hire is familiar with the industry and platform-specific standards such as Facebook Ads Manager, Google Adwords, Twitter Ads Manager, etc., as well as best practices for creating content that will resonate with their target audience.

Additionally, Tonya reminds us that an experienced marketer should understand how different platforms work together—for example, how YouTube videos can be used in combination with other digital channels like email marketing—to create an effective strategy overall.