In growing a business, there's a lot that you have to account for, like internal processes, payroll, client communications, team management, and so on. But one of the most important things you should keep in mind as a business owner is expanding your business.

There's no denying that the digital marketing industry is one of the biggest industries nowadays. This helps other industries expand their business through advertising and brand awareness. For a business owner, digital marketing is an essential frontier that they should take advantage of. However, there are also so-called "digital marketers" that can take advantage of you instead. 

These hoax companies will make empty promises and unrealistic goals in an attempt to scam you out of your money. Their common prey is business owners who are not tech-savvy and are inexperienced in digital marketing. That said, here are some common digital scams that you should be aware of.

Directory Listing Promises

Online directories are crucial for your business because it builds brand awareness and increases your company's visibility to other people. This is especially effective if your company is listed in quality and reputable listings. 

Of course, there are also directories online that can offer no results and can even harm your company's reputation when seen in their listings. Some directories that customers put a lot of trust in are HomeAdvisor, Houzz, Angie's List, and Yelp.

That said, predatory digital marketers will offer you to have your company be listed in high-quality directories for exposure and brand awareness. It may sound good, but in reality, they will list you in a bunch of low-tier directories that not only produce no results but will also warp your customer's views of your company.

With that in mind, if your digital marketer brings up directory listings, make sure that you get their list of directories to check if they are reputable.

Follower Buying

Having a lot of followers on social media platforms is an excellent way to advertise your company. By having a lot of followers, there's a lot of chances for the customer to know and buy your stuff and even keep retention. However, while this sounds tempting, there are digital marketers out there that promise huge follower counts but are just buying followers online.

This is done by artificially pumping up your follower count through bots or other means. And of course, since this is artificially done, these "followers" won't be able to buy and check out what your company is all about. You can see this by comparing your follower count with your engagement rate. If you have a high follower count, but your engagement rate is too low to be realistic, then the chances are that the digital marketer is using bots.

SEO Hack

If you search for Sales tips to drive growth on search engines, SEO is the most prominent thing you'll see. SEO is an excellent thing to invest in because it can help your website increase its ranking in search engines. 

However, one thing that you should note about SEO is that it's more organic in its approach, which means it can take time. It has to create a lot of relevant content for you first, after all. That said, there's no hack or any cheat in making your website rise in the rankings.

With that in mind, if your digital marketer claims that they can put your website in the first place in Google search, there's a huge chance that they're lying to you. Most of the time, they use illegal means to do that, which can put your website in danger as by using illegal means, you can have Google blacklist your website. As a growing business, that's the last thing you want.

Instead, work with digital marketers that use approved SEO methods, otherwise known as white hat SEO tactics. These tactics are completely legal and will help your website grow over time by helping it grow in relevance and building brand awareness and trust with your customers.

Fake Client Portfolios

If you're actively looking for a reputable digital marketer that can help you market your company online, then one thing that you should always consider is their client portfolios. Their client portfolios show which companies the agencies helped before and how successful they are now. 

However, predatory digital marketers will put out fake client portfolios and even fabricate an entire marketing campaign to get you on board with their scams. That's why as a business owner, you should always be diligent when looking at their client portfolios.

Final Words

There are many more digital marketing scams out there that you should be aware of. This is important for new business owners because there are a lot of predatory digital marketers out there looking to make a fortune by scamming new businesses. Hence, it's always important to be diligent and be suspicious if you see any red flags a digital marketer shows.