A Case for Creating Your Own Ethical Marketing Standards with Pardot
This is a question that motivates me:
How does your company make the world a better place through technology?
Asking this question is what lead me to start or join in on the philanthropic efforts at all of my previous employers. It’s led me to push hard for previous employers to adopt ethical marketing standards with their marketing automation. And it’s a conversation I regularly have with my Salesforce and Pardot clients.
To me, it’s a necessary question to ask before I launch any new marketing campaign.
Ethical Marketing is my Driving Force: Could it be Yours?
Ethical marketing motives all that I do with marketing and marketing automation, like Pardot. It’s a reason I tweet, read, and give talks about ethical marketing for all kinds of organizations. As a consultant, and previously a Pardot admin, I’ve used this do-gooder lens to drive my decisions and better advise my clients.
I believe ethical marketing is not just a way of the future or a passing trend. Ethical marketing is now a standard that many consumers look for when making a purchase.
Whether they are marketers making a platform investment or a customer making a purchase — knowing that a company is going to take care of our data will drive us towards one company over another.
So, What is “Ethical Marketing”?
..and how does this apply to Pardot, a B2B platform that’s pretty neutral?
I define ethical marketing as marketing that inherently tries to be good, just, and honest with their efforts while addressing their business’s needs.
It’s a shift from solely helping your Sales team win, to honoring your prospect’s data while winning.
First, let’s acknowledge this is tricky stuff. It can certainly be a grey area. And it’s different for every person and organization based on their values, use cases, and so many more factors. But this is where you and/or your organization can take a stance to make the world a better place.
I really like this paragraph defining what ethical marketing is, from Dan Shewan,
“To put this another way, ethical marketing isn’t a strategy; it’s a philosophy. It includes everything from ensuring advertisements are honest and trustworthy, to building strong relationships with consumers through a set of shared values. Companies with a focus on ethical marketing evaluate their decisions from a business perspective (i.e. whether a particular marketing initiative will deliver the desired return) as well as a moral perspective (i.e. whether a decision is “right” or morally sound).”
What Does Salesforce Say About Ethical Marketing?
“We know that technology is not inherently good or bad; it’s what we do with it that matters. And that’s why we’re making the ethical and humane use of technology a strategic focus at Salesforce.” -MARC BENIOFF, CHAIRMAN AND CO-CEO, SALESFORCE
While I see Salesforce as putting the ball back in the court of their customers (rightfully so) to use their technology for good, they are also giving them the tools to do better through many of the best practices they teach on Trailhead.
Their actions and investments also speak volumes. You can see where their head is at through their formation departments like the Office of Ethical and Humane Use and the Office of Equality.
They speak a lot about “inclusive marketing”. I see ethical marketing and inclusive marketing as two different but highly aligned initiatives.
Before I dive into how you can implement ethical marketing into your Salesforce and Pardot instances, let me introduce you to something I’ve read and shared a lot- a wonderful blog post on inclusive marketing written by Alexandra Legend Siegel, Head of Equality Content & Narrative at Salesforce.
Ok, but Why Should I Consider Ethical Marketing?
Let’s start with this infographic from a Salesforce research survey from October 2018 that surveyed over 2000 American consumers:
Credit: https://www.salesforce.com/company/ethical-and-humane-use/
To me, the stat that speaks the most to the benefits of practicing ethical marketing is:
“69% of consumers say they spend more money with companies who demonstrate good ethics.”
It’s a simple equation of be good + do good = do more business.
And to take this one step further, from that same survey 86% of consumers say they are more loyal to companies who demonstrate good ethics.
Not only will ethical marketing help you earn more paying customers, but it can also help you earn their loyalty so they continue to be a paying customer.
Want to learn more about putting this into action for your business? Email me at [email protected] or subscribe to this blog at the bottom of the page — we’ll be posting several other blogs on this topic, including practical tips to get started.