Ethics have always been an important principle to keep in mind when creating a marketing strategy. However, ethical marketing is increasingly important, as consumers are more aware of shady marketing practices. Ethical digital marketing is a challenge, as digital marketing requires an almost constant level of upkeep. If you are looking to implement ethical marketing practices in your upcoming digital marketing campaign, this guide is here to help.
What Place Does Targeted Advertising Have in an Ethical Campaign?
One of the biggest questions that you will likely encounter when attempting to run an ethical digital marketing campaign is whether it is ethical to use targeted advertising techniques. Targeted advertising uses tracking tools and consumers’ personal data to target the most relevant audiences, based on customer demographics, specific traits, behaviors, interests and preferences.
There is a lot of debate about the ethics of using targeted advertising. Specifically, the questions relate to personal privacy. As many people are unaware of the extent to which they are tracked and monitored online, or the practice of selling this information, it is hard to determine whether people consent to targeted ads. Cookies were an attempt to make this invasion of privacy disappear, but again, the information available when accepting a cookie is limited, meaning it does not eliminate questions of ethics.
As a business, you will need to decide whether you believe you are able to run an ethical digital marketing campaign with the use of target advertisements, or if you will instead focus on other techniques.
Protect Customer Data
Whether or not you are going to be using targeted advertisements, you will still collect customer data as a result of your digital marketing campaign. To ensure your campaign is ethical you will need to first, be transparent with your customers. This means providing every visitor to your site with information about how you use and where you keep their data.
It is also vital that you have cyber-security systems in place to ensure all customer data is adequately protected from a potential cyber-attack or data breach. Not only is this necessary for ethical digital marketing, but also your brand’s credibility, productivity rate and future growth potential.
Form the Right Partnerships
As the Eleven Marketing agency explains, influencer marketing is an essential practice for any successful digital campaign. When you are running an ethical digital marketing campaign, you not only need to consider your company’s actions, but also those of the influencers you partner with.
You should make sure to fully vet all the influencers you are working with. When doing so, you will not only need to ensure that the influencer shares a relevant customer base and has a high engagement rate but that it also upholds your ethical values.
Ethical digital marketing is by no means necessary, but it is a sensible business decision. In order to build long-lasting, meaningful relationships you need to build trust with consumers. Using ethical digital marketing practices can help you to create a campaign that does not only lead to increasing brand awareness or sales, but also promote your company as socially conscious and credible, too.
