Let's talk about Ethics in Digital marketing

Today I had a conversation with a friend who is an entrepreneur. Let’s call her Maria. She called me to ask if I could manage Meta ads for her boutique and help her to upload new stock to her website. What happened? I asked. She explained the scenario.

She started her boutique in 2018. She stayed afloat during the pandemic despite financial challenges. Like every small business owner, she had to roll in money and take gold loans to sustain the business.

As you know, the competition is high, especially in a city like Trivandrum, where a lot of boutiques and clothing stores struggle to survive. With a lot of hard work, she built a strong customer base. The goodwill gave her the confidence to start her own production unit. In December, she started her own unit that produces budget-friendly co-ord sets for women.

Now, with her own production unit, she wanted to increase the boutique’s visibility. Maria approached an agency. She agreed to the package, which includes web development, social media marketing, and SEO. They offered video production services, too. They sounded very sincere.

The first 3 weeks, everything was smooth. She gave them a positive Google review, and thereafter, they showed their true colors. Maria shared products to upload to WooCommerce. When calls stopped being answered, she reached out to one of the girls who was managing her website through social media. To her shock, the developer informed her that she is no longer working with the agency.

That digital marketing agency neither appointed staff to manage the website nor showed the courtesy to inform their client that they would not be able to provide the service any longer. They used to charge her for that even after they stopped the service.

All of a sudden, they informed her that they require a hike for video production and can’t work with the amount previously agreed upon. Since it’s not affordable for a small business owner, she started to shoot videos by herself.

To top it all, Maria noticed that the agency is not spending the money it budgeted for social media marketing. The service charge was additional. At that moment, she realized that the digital marketing agency was scamming her. There are a lot of Marias in our society who have lost their hard-earned money to these kinds of fraudulent agencies or digital marketers.

In a highly competitive profession like digital marketing, we should be credible and trustworthy. You don’t have to consider your customer as God, but at least treat them like humans and value their trust.

We should have ethics in our advertising and marketing services. The digital marketing experts should not exploit a client. We should always be truthful and respectful. Whether it is a freelance digital marketing expert or an agency, integrity and transparency are the core values that help to build a healthy customer relationship.

In the field of digital marketing, ethics is not merely moral; it’s above and beyond. Developing a long-term trust describes your success. Manipulative and exploitative strategies only last for a while. Today’s world reviews and testimonials play a big role in the success of any business. We all know that negative reviews on social media have a greater impact than the positive ones, and people know how to use them.

 What are the ethical digital marketing approaches?

• First and foremost, we should be respectful and should not trick our clients or their potential customers.
• Producing respectful content is essential. We should honour the social and cultural aspects of a society. The controversy over the Vishu ad by Mehar Mandi Shop underscores the need for vigilance when creating content.
• Keep transparency in collabs and sponsored advertisements. Maintaining legitimacy in social media ads rather than scheming.
• Being inclusive is also a value that we should uphold in our profession. Our content should be respectful and not discriminatory. The content should be accessible to people with special needs.

Building long-term relationships should be our goal, and transparency and honesty are the cornerstones for any digital marketing expert. We should not kill the goose that lays golden eggs for a short-term gain. In this competitive world, sustainability is the definition of success.

The clients should also do some research before assigning an agency or a digital marketer. It’s better not to consider long-term contracts without specific clauses about services. Ask for ad reports, and to crown it all, ensure the ownership of your website and social media accounts.

Maria’s experience triggered me to scribble these words. The sad thing is that Maria’s story is not a single one. We should choose to be the professionals whom people trust for years, rather than regret hiring.

Originally published on LinkedIn

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