The field of marketing has (perhaps rightfully) developed a spotty reputation. We're likely all familiar with the negative feelings of invasive, devious, or disingenuous marketing. However, it doesn't have to be this way. At its core, marketing is getting other people just as excited about a wonderful product, service, or event as you are. The heart of marketing is sharing and emphatic bonding: both beautiful things. This article will explain how to remain ethical in your marketing.
Ethical marketing is the principle of committing to open, transparent, reasonable, and fair business practices and communicating these to your audience. Ethical marketing highlights a company's values as a promotional strategy. These can be values such as honesty, fair trade practices, social responsibility, and transparency. Ethical marketing aims to share your brand's values in your promotional materials to reach an audience that shares the same principles. The overarching goal of ethical marketing is to advertise your product while maintaining your brand's ethical standards and integrity.
Conversely, unethical marketing is the type which places profits above all else. Unethical tactics include sharing false claims, baseless exaggeration, invasive promotional schemes, unsolicited advertisements, fear-based campaigns, and slander of the competition. If you feel icky about how you're selling, asking yourself if your campaign uses any of these tactics may allow you to move into a more genuine space you can feel good about.
So how do you begin to market your brand ethically? It's a good idea to keep these five pillars in mind when conceptualizing a marketing plan.
The Five Principles Of Ethical Marketing
Honesty
Honesty is the foundation of any ethical marketing strategy. Ethical brands use factual and unexaggerated information about their products and services. Your marketing materials should attempt to advertise the benefits of your product without trying to mislead anyone.
Integrity
Integrity is the quality of having strong ethical principles and embodying moral uprightness. While morality is subjective, an almost universally agreed upon basic level of social morality is expected to be upheld. Act as you would want others to treat you. People and brands with integrity feel an obligation to do the right thing. Your marketing should comprise materials created in good faith with good intentions.
Fairness
Fairness as a metric in all your decision-making processes will allow ethics to take centre stage. Commit to fair practices, wages, and prices; your business will naturally operate in that direction.
Responsibility
You can communicate responsibility in many ways throughout your business. In marketing, this can be emphasized as your willingness to source from sustainable suppliers, a commitment to paying fair wages, a desire to give back to the local community, or supporting employee wellbeing.
Transparency
Being open about your brand's operations is the first step to being transparent. Consumers love to see proof of how your business is willing to do the right thing even when nobody may be looking. Being transparent about the responsible way your company operates will also help build trust with your audience.
Try employing these five pillars in your marketing strategy to ensure you're marketing ethically. The most beautiful thing we can do as business owners, marketers, and strategists is commit to unyielding integrity in how we present our offerings to the world. Let us be brands that deliver on our word, only say what is accurate, and put people and the planet over our profits. If you're looking to create an ethical brand for your business, reach us at atelier@oluwatosin.net today so we can discuss how the Atelier can help you craft your responsible identity.
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