When is an expert actually an expert?

I’ve been pondering as of late…. "What about?" I hear you cry; well let me tell you…. I was recently engaged in an online debate which was infuriatingly time wasting (1-0 to the internet trolls!) The person wasting my time was claiming to be an”expert”….And looking at his website, to all intents and purposes he appeared to be just that, an expert.

However after a quick Google search I came across his #LinkedIn profile and found that he had zero experience in his apparent field of expertise and was in no way, shape or form an expert on anything. This of course correlates to the data world where we have a whole host of "data suppliers" and "data owners" who appear to be bonafide data experts.

But faithful Databroker readers, I say do not take them on their online persona alone. Research their credentials thoroughly, how long have they been in the industry? Do they have client testimonials? Are they DMA members? Even if they have the DMA logo on their website, do not take this at face-value.

Searching for their company name within the member directory on the DMA website is the only way to ensure you are entrusting your marketing budget and campaign to someone who can be trusted.