Ethical Guide To Social Media Marketing & Influence
Chances are, most Instagram and Tik-Tok’ers know of or follow at least one person that is considered an influencer on these platforms. Whether they’re selling a product, experience, a personal brand or collaboration— these influencers have an unspoken power that can convince audiences to buy, watch and share their goods.
In order to become successful in social media marketing, it’s critical to understand and work off of a base-line knowledge of ethical practices. Deceiving, fooling and intentionally violating privacy practices are examples of unethical behaviors that can not only impact company sales and bottom line, but can severely hurt or permanently damage a brand’s reputation.
According to New York Times Best Selling Author and website influencer Neil Patel, “today’s brands need to be transparent.”
Transparency
In an era of distrust, it is now more important than ever for a brand to be honest regarding the service or offering they are providing. In a Sprout Social survey which discussed brand transparency with 1,000 people, 59% thought transparency in businesses meant being open, 53% said clear and 49% said honest.
Using those categories as a baseline is a good rule of thumb in remaining ethical. Be clear about what you’re selling, the service you’re advertising. Don’t leave room for any gray area. If your product does not preform a specific function, don’t imply or suggest otherwise. Be as explicit as possible, leaving little room for misunderstanding. It won’t just save a brand’s reputation, remaining transparent can also keep you in the good graces of the law.
“The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates truth in advertising, and it expects marketers to make accurate statements in their advertising campaigns, back claims with scientific evidence whenever possible and be transparent about negative features.”
Accountability
Whether its a public relations error, a faulty product/offering or a consumer complaint, it’s important to accept ownership and responsibility.
Of course no company wants to experience negative reviews or comments. However, it’s unlikely to escape it in one way or another. It may be an initial reaction to delete these reviews and pretend like they were never written, however, keeping them on your website or channel and addressing the concern or criticism is crucial.
Not only does it indicate that the brand is being transparent by leaving the post online, responding to it and addressing the issue shows accountability and willingness to accept a mistake or error. In the Sprout Social survey, “when brands are transparent and develop a history of transparency, nearly nine in 10 people are more likely to give them second chances after bad experiences and 85% more likely to stick with them during crisis.”
Ditch the spam
Let’s face it. No one likes spam. The more times you receive junk emails from a brand that only clogs up your inbox, the more likely it is that you’ll hit unsubscribe.
According to Forbes, “consider that bugging the wrong customers too many times will do you more reputational harm than good.” Don’t be that annoying fly that won’t leave no matter how many times you swat at it.
This isn’t to say that a company shouldn’t conduct tasteful targeted marketing and advertising. Think about how often you’re targeting your audience and how many times per platform. Are you sending daily emails? Are you appearing in daily Instagram stories? Consider starting small and increasing your advertising as your brand grows while listening to what your customers needs and wants are.
The bottom line? Treat your followers/consumers the way you’d like to be treated.
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References:
Rutigliano, K. (2019 June 24). How To Draw The Line On Unethical Marketing. Forbes. Forbes.com. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2019/06/24/how-to-draw-the-line-on-unethical-marketing/?sh=7745886d5736
Patel N. The Definitive Guide to Online Reputation Management. NeilPatel.com. https://neilpatel.com/blog/guide-to-reputation-management/
Sprout Social Survey. (2019, May 8). #BrandsGetReal: Social media & the evolution of transparency. Sprout Social. SproutSocial.com https://sproutsocial.com/insights/data/social-media-transparency/