In order to be permanent on social media, we have been constantly publishing articles about social media marketing ethics for a long time....
Like most marketing venues, digital marketing is not immune to unsavory practices. Social media marketing ethics challenge both marketers and consumers as platforms continue to grow.
These marketing ethics can determine how customers view your business. Ethical issues such as data privacy, bias, and transparency are important to consider when creating your social media marketing campaigns.
Understanding Ethics
Business ethics is a foundation on which companies build their reputation. A company's ethics build trust between the customer and the company. If you are transparent about your ethical practices, customers will notice. It's that simple.
Ethics generally relates to moral principles and a shared concept of what is "right" and what is "wrong." In conclusion, social media marketing ethics are not a strict set of obligations that businesses must follow. Instead, they are an unwritten code of conduct.
It is ethically wrong to deceive customers for financial gain. On the other hand, establishing trust through honest interactions is ethical and more likely to lead to financial gain.
Your application of admirable marketing ethics is crucial, especially in today's social responsibility environment.
4 Tips for Ethical Social Media Marketing
Marketing ethics are pretty simple on the surface: don't lie, don't cheat, don't exploit people. The ethical choices you make for traditional marketing campaigns also apply to social media campaigns .
The difference is that social media marketing often has a broader and more immediate impact. What you thought was an innocent post could go viral and you'll have to deal with the fallout. That's why it's helpful to follow these tips for ethical social media marketing.
1. Be Honest
- Don't lie in your social media marketing. It's as simple as telling the truth about your product or service. Integrity extends to your brand personality and the way you communicate with customers.
- When you are insincere, you create suspicion and mistrust. Don't exaggerate what you can offer and don't distort information. Instead, be honest about the value and usefulness of your product or service.
2. Be Transparent
- Transparency is a must in social media marketing. The reasons behind your marketing don't need to be over-the-top and obvious, but don't try to hide your intentions behind crafty content.
- In the digital age, environmental, business and political connections are easy to find. Consumers are quick to judge companies based on their compliance with ethical and moral issues. Be as transparent about your affiliates as possible.
3. Don't Exploit Emotions
- Some might say that shaking emotions to motivate action is basic marketing art. These people can't go wrong. However, there is a line between appealing to emotional factors and exploiting emotions for your own benefit.
- Hot button issues and troubled times are not good moments to promote your product.
4. Don't Compromise on Data
- Compromised data and online data security is a sensitive issue. On the one hand, companies have been purchasing user data for decades to fine-tune their marketing campaigns and better reach their target audiences. On the other hand, from a consumer perspective, it doesn't seem fair that your data is being sold to companies without your knowledge.
- Buying and using user data to fuel your social media marketing campaigns is an ethical gray area. Instead, try to build your audience and followers organically so you can market to people who choose to share their data so they can learn more about your business.
- Additionally, one should never disclose or use personal data through social media. This is very bad work ethic.
Ethical social media marketing is a broad, nuanced topic. Being honest and transparent and not exploiting people's emotions or data is just the tip of the iceberg.
Examples of Bad Social Media Marketing Mistakes
Still not sure what social media marketing ethics look like? Fortunately, many companies have navigated these waters before you, and it's easy to learn from their mistakes.
Cheerios and Prince's death - Following the musician's death in 2016, Cheerios thought it would be a good idea to tie their brand to Prince's death. The company replaced a purple "Rest In Peace" image with the cereal replacing the dot in the word "in". Fans and customers were not happy.
Dove and racial transformation – Dove has seen success with body positivity campaigns focusing on acceptance and beauty, so it was surprising that a social media ad featured a woman of color transforming into a white woman after using Dove lotion.
Both of these examples are often missteps by companies that have an ethical approach to their marketing. This shows how easy it can be to misread the digital room and position your brand negatively via social media.
Examples of Great Social Media Marketing Benefits
There are many examples of social media marketing with an ethical pulse. This is done when marketers realize that a company's product or service can be put to good use at a time of need. Airbnb and Netflix are two examples of good ethical social media marketing during the recent pandemic.
Airbnb is helping house workers struggling with COVID-19 – Airbnb is uniquely positioned to connect 100,000 COVID-19 workers with hosts who need temporary housing during the pandemic, and they supported exactly that through a recent social media campaign. The company intended to provide free or subsidized accommodation and did not exploit this situation.
Netflix connects people with mental health professionals - Netflix has handled social media ethically during the pandemic. The latest "Wanna Talk About It?" campaign was a partnership with Instagram to showcase content and discussions with trusted mental health experts.
Ethical Marketing is the Future
Managing your social media marketing from an ethical perspective is really quite simple.
Moreover, consumers connect with businesses that practice ethical marketing. Brands can become more involved in people's lives, and consumers want to do the same with brands they can trust. There are no downsides to practicing ethical social media marketing, but it does require you to take the time to be thoughtful and invite others' perspectives along the way.
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