Welcome to the Home of the Anti-Charlatan Fighting Force
Here at the World HQ of the Anti-Charlatan Fighting Force, we look to lead by example. That means trying to not repeat mistakes. It means, not over-reaching, and being honest with ourselves, our clients and our partners. Do good honest hard work and call a charlatan a charlatan.
I work in Marketing. There are a lot of really smart, dedicated individuals of all ages and stripes that do great, honest work. And for every one of those fine folks there is a charlatan out there waiting to swindle a client out of money. This page is dedicated to avoiding the charlatans, their allure, and their nonsense and misinformation.
Hallmarks of the Marketing Charlatan -
Honestly, Marketing Charlatans display many of the same attributes as garden-variety charlatans. That said, I’m focusing on the marketing variety.
Overconfident - Anyone who is really sure that they know with certainty. We all have opinions but a true professional will constantly ask themself “how might I be wrong and how will i know?” The charlatan is super certain that THEY know the right path to success.
Focus on the tool and not on the process - Charlatans will focus on dangling shiny objects in front of their marks. “We use X platform!” is a potential red flag. You don’t hire a carpenter based on what kind of hammer they wield. You hire them based on what they can do with the hammer.
Always Successful - Is every campaign a winner? Doubt it, Charlatans try to woo their marks with tales of success.
Self-Promotion is Over The Top - Charlatans are narcissists. They often crow about themselves in embarrassing fashion.
Incredible Claims of Success - 10,000% ROI! Doubt it. And if an effort did by some happenstance achieve such results, the charlatan will claim as much credit as possible.
Influencer! - When all else fails claim to be influencer. Extra charlatan points if you have purchased a ton of social media followers.
Short on Quantitative Data to Support and/or Questionable Success Metrics - This attribute drives me particularly bonkers. Any marketer or agency that relies solely on correlation metrics instead of testing for causation fits into this. (See View-Through Conversions.)