I think this has likely been going on for years, but I have suddenly had a large number of offers to pay to receive an award as a Top Digital Marketer or Top SEO Company, etc.  I bring this up to warn business owners to not look at awards as a strong signal for their purchase decisions. Referrals and references and sustainability, combined with online reviews are a more trustworthy way to monitor how good a company is.

Awards You Pay For to Show Off

Part of the pitch to me has been to use it for marketing to prospects, telling them I won the award that I had, in fact, simply paid for.  In reality, nobody on the outside really knows how well a digital marketing company serves its clients overall. Even the more legitimate industry awards tend to be a little bit of a popularity contest, but they at least tend to require submitting results that show you are worthy.

I simply share this to let consumers know to be careful when someone shares the awards their company won in digital marketing, as it was likely paid for. Check their references and their reviews when considering hiring one.  A good relationship with your digital marketing company is more important than ever, so make sure you make that decision with the right information.

I know this has been going on for years, but I’m surprised how many people don’t realize it. Even before the digital age, you could buy fake “Person of the Year” type publications to hand out to people to make you look important. That stuff always sort of felt gross to me.  There seems to be another influx of it, so beware out there in making your key business decisions.