In a world of competitions and some dirty players, is it still wise to tread the ethical marketing path?
Many well-known companies pretend they have committed themselves to the goodness of ethical procedures but do the exact opposite. The driving forces push them to think of outside-the-box solutions, which may go beyond principles and fairness.
Now that everyone’s looking at cost, ethical marketing seems to be an ambitious choice.
With the amount of management support and possible expenditures it requires, is it worth everything?
Why should ethics be present even if you do growth hacking?
Let us talk about the fallbacks of not applying ethics in marketing. These scenarios should give you an idea of what you’ll miss and the troubles your company could get into shall you engage in blackhat marketing tactics.
Lawsuits
What’s the best way to make a company crumble? A lawsuit.
Not only can it ruin your reputation, but it may also lead to a massive loss whether you pay the offended party as ruled by the court or spend on settlements.
Exaggerating and adding hyperboles may help increase sales, but it also gives way to more significant issues in the long run. Misrepresentation of products/services could lead to accidents, loss, and other disadvantages.
When you caused great inconvenience to a customer, it might lead to a lawsuit scandal. Apart from paying hefty sums of money for the damages, your brand would fall under the media spotlight for some time.
Many businesses failed to recover after they sunk to the consequences of making the wrong choice that is an unethical business.
More often, competitors and other businesses instigate a court war with anyone who unknowingly or intentionally used their IP in advertisements. Sometimes, even if there are only slight similarities with their client’s property, lawyers would challenge it on the court, so it’s crucial that you conduct research as well as be in good faith.
Low Customer Satisfaction
One thing a company should always strive for is customer satisfaction. How do you expect to get more sales and expand your business if your patrons are unhappy? Not applying ethics is the number one method to drawing customers away.
Unethical marketing may bring in sales. But these campaign responders are probably one-time customers only. When converted leads found a slight hint of deception or discovered that a company engages in deplorable acts, they will most likely bring their money elsewhere.
Such dirty tactics often lead to horrible customer feedback. You might find yourself struggling with brand-building due to all these comments you can’t be proud of.
Low Office Morale
If your customers are unhappy with the service or the products, the workers might have to deal with the backlash, which causes more issues with customer satisfaction and can also affect office morale.
Moreover, righteous workers might be hesitant and eventually resign in their refusal to engage in harmful practices. Those who remained might get the impression that deceiving consumers is normal, and such training will influence their work.
Takeaway
Ethical marketing may seem as though it can cause a hindrance to the rapid growth of a company, but slow and steady always wins the race. There’s isn’t one way to go about this because everybody works in different ways. So if you’re contemplating if you should not apply ethics to your marketing, then make sure you’re ready to deal with these consequences.
