Given stubborn churn rates, it’s clear that many SMBs are not happy with their marketing services providers. Some of this comes from inflated expectations and some, unfortunately, from dubious or even unethical claims made by some of the companies selling these services.

It’s often challenging for SMBs to find trustworthy providers. A new survey found that SMBs would be more inclined to work with a marketing partner whose ethics and business practices were certified by a third party. The vast majority (80%) ranked the buying influence of such a certification at 6 or higher and 63% at 8 or higher (on a 10 point scale).

Rated as most important among a list of criteria was "a clear statement of pricing or costs.” Honesty was also very important. And 82% said they wanted certification that providers had fairly represented their expertise, products and services and past performance.