The art of ethical persuasion

“Isn’t marketing just manipulating someone into buying something?”

Imagine you were about to ask someone to marry you.

You probably wouldn’t do it over a bucket of KFC while sitting on the couch in your grubbiest pair of trackies.

Instead, you’d plan a romantic day/evening/weekend away, wear something nice, and say some even nicer words to your special someone before popping the question.

Why? Because you want them to say yes. And setting a romantic scene is one of the best ways to increase your chances!

Discover & share this Marriage GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

…probably should’ve stuck to KFC on the couch

You’re not trying to manipulate your partner into saying yes (why would you do that? You love & respect them) but you are putting your best foot forward by showcasing your best self.

This is ethical persuasion in action. And yep, it’s possible for your marketing and copywriting to be ethical too!

The words we use have power, so let’s make sure we’re using that power for good…

Why is ethical marketing so important?

Let’s be real for a second.

Yes - you want people to fall madly in love with your brand, dive for their wallets, and throw their hand-earned dollar dollar bills at you. But you don’t want to do it in a deceiving, sleazy way, right?

No business owner wants to go to bed at night feeling gross about how they closed a sale, and you don’t have to. There are loads of ways to build trust and boost sales without selling your soul to the (marketing) devil!

Consumers buy from brands they know, like and trust. They buy based on emotion. They buy from brands that make them feel heard and respected.

Once you’ve got an understanding of why people buy and what they’re looking for in a relationship with your brand, it’s easier to say the right things in a natural & authentic way.

Be aware (of yourself & others)

Ethical copywriting, marketing & persuasion is all about trust. Being aware, responsible, and fair builds trust with your audience.

If you have a genuinely great offer that could genuinely help people, it deserves great marketing – but before you go out and shout from the rooftops, take some time to think about who you are as a brand & who your ideal customers are. Once you can answer these things with absolute clarity, you can start to deliver value.

·       Figuring out your USP (unique selling point/the real value you offer clients) starts with considering your product or service’s features and benefits, and pinpointing the things that your competitors don’t do. Try to identify your strengths and the deeper value you offer people - this outcome is what you’re selling. There’s a saying ‘people don’t buy a drill, they buy a hole’. Outcome = value.

·       Getting to know your audience is a task that requires more than ‘personas’. Age and gender aren’t nearly as important as other factors like pain points, goals, dreams, values and fears. Once you really get to know your audience, you can empathise with them. And that’s how you start building trust.

Be open, honest & authentic

This one is pretty self-explanatory: offer truthful information in a way that feels natural.

From your website to your social media content, highlight the benefits of your product/service, but don’t exaggerate them. Over-promising and under-delivering will only annoying people and lead to negative feedback, which can stab an ‘SOS’ flag in your reputation.

·       There’s nothing wrong with using FOMO and scarcity techniques, as long as you’re being honest.

·       There’s nothing wrong with agitating pain points and showing your customer how different life can be if they purchase your product or service, as long as you’re being honest.

·       And there’s nothing wrong with promoting all the AWESOME things about your brand, as long as you’re being honest.

For example - if your brand supports local, environmental or social causes, that’s super cool (and should definitely be shared with your audience!), but make sure the way you describe the partnership is fair and accurate. A one-off donation isn’t the same as ongoing support.

Or, if you’re trying to make bank during your open-cart period, feel free to say ‘there are only ‘x’ spots/products left’ (especially if it’s true! you go Glen Coco!)… just be aware you’ll look like a right dick if you turn around later and say something like ‘we added a few more spots/products due to demand!’ People can see through it, and it leaves a sour taste in their mouth.

Use social proof wisely

We’re hardwired to follow the crowd (it’s called the ‘bandwagon effect’), so when we see other people raving about something - like your brand - we’re more inclined to trust it and give it a go.

Testimonials are what we call ‘social proof’, and they’re a great way of leveraging the bandwagon effect, reducing risk, and attracting your ideal customer (people want to work with brands that other people have tried and tested!).

Here’s how to write & share ethical testimonials:

☀️ Ask people if they’d be happy to give feedback that you can use for marketing purposes.

☀️ If they say yes, help them give you a valuable review by offering some guidelines. “Please write me a testimonial” might not get you anything specific (and you want specific). Instead, ask them a few different questions, like why they chose to work with you, how the service did/didn’t live up to their expectations, and how they’d describe you to someone else.

☀️ Send them the link to your Google My Business and/or Facebook page so they can post their review directly - this will give your SEO a nice boost!

☀️ If it’s a goodie, use it for your website too. Cut the quote down if it’s too long and fix any spelling errors, but don’t re-write it in your own words.

☀️ Publish on your website/social/emails/proposal docs/anywhere else that’s relevant with the person’s name (and image or logo) to boost credibility.

☀️ NEVER, EVER write fake testimonials.

You can also source great testimonials from everyday emails. Say you deliver your product/service, and your client responds with “Wow, this is the best XYZ I’ve ever seen! I love what you’ve done with XYZ…”, jump on this opportunity by asking if they would mind if you took that little sentence and turned it into a testimonial.

More often than not, they’ll say yes – as they don’t have to write you a more formal one later.

(Yep, we humans are lazy like that. So the easier you make it for them, the better.) 

Ethical persuasion dos & don’ts

Here are some final tips to keep in mind when it comes to marketing your product or service, sans sleaze.

DON’T:

🚫 Include any unverified claims on your website/packaging/anywhere. You can’t say your shampoo offers ‘stronger hair’ without the science to back it up, and you can’t claim your products are ‘ethically sourced’ if you haven’t done the research and had this confirmed by your manufacturers.

🚫 Create false scarcity just to boost sales. Scarcity (e.g. ‘only 5 spots left!’) is a great way to encourage those fence-sitters to act, but it has to be true.

🚫 Attack your competition or bad mouth them on social media. It’s not a good look.

🚫 Use clickbait style headlines (e.g. ‘the best product you’ve ever seen’ or ‘you won’t believe what happens when you push this button’). It annoys people.

🚫 Lie. It will only come back to haunt you!

DO:

✅ Consider putting prices on your website. Not only does it make it easier for potential customers/clients to see whether they can afford you, it stops you getting enquires from people who are way out of your budget (ain’t nobody got time for that).

✅ Show ‘behind the scenes’ social content if it fits with your brand - people appreciate the vulnerability that comes with open, real communication (and not just perfectly curated Instagram posts).

✅ Show your face! People like to get to know the person behind the brand. Whether it’s photos on your about page or jumping on IG stories to talk about a new product you’re launching, those know, like and trust factors go through the roof when people connect with your brand on a personal level.

✅ Keep your word. Say you’ll offer a full refund? Do it. Say you’ll get back to their email within 24 hours? Do it. If you set expectations, you need to meet them.

✅ Own up to mistakes - acknowledge, apologise, and move on. The right people will respect you for being honest (everyone screws up sometimes!).

✅ Credit sources. Whether it’s an image you’re using (always make sure you have permission) or referencing a study or someone else’s ideas/work, make sure you credit accordingly.

✅ Review & take responsibly for everything you publish.

What all brands should be aiming for: THIS ☝️ level of trust

The trust between a brand and its customers is sacred. It takes a long time to build, and can be destroyed in an instant.

Unsure whether something you’ve written is pushing the ethical boundaries? Ask yourself if it ‘feels’ good. Does it feel truthful, fair, and accurate? If not, it’s worth going back to the drawing board and thinking of how you can achieve your objective using a more ethical tactic or message.

It take a little time and thought to get right, but once you’re on a roll, you’ll start to notice all the benefits of an ethical marketing strategy:

🙌 Stronger relationships with your audience

🙌 A solid reputation that does the heavy lifting for you

🙌 And of course that beautiful, uninterrupted sleep that comes with a clear conscious!

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