Is Marketing Ethically Possible?

Is it possible to market ethically?

This is a question I have turned over and over, like a sparkling, uneven, rough stone discovered in unusual terrain. I am trying to place it, understand it, and decide about it.

As it is commonly defined, marketing is the process of promoting, selling or distributing a product. In general, the concepts of promoting and selling cause widespread recoiling. I cannot count the number of people who have told me that the idea of marketing feels “icky” or uncomfortable to them. From large brands to small, this retreating impulse means businesses stop entirely or curtail significantly their own marketing efforts, particularly when the world is uncertain and the risk of “doing it wrong” feels so intense and threatening.

We’ve seen a lot of this retreating in 2020 and 2021.

But in today’s world and today’s economy, where service-based businesses make up the majority of the U.S. GDP, it is unreasonable to think your brand will stand out simply because you exist and do a good job.

You have to tell someone. (It’s also unwise to think you can continue building your brand and your business with your foot pressing down on the marketing brake.)

Like all necessary yet challenging changes, this one begins with a shift in mindset.

The answer to my first question is, yes, you can market ethically.

And, in order to market ethically, you must change the way you think about marketing.

Marketing is an old term, one created with a product-based economy in mind. (Earliest references began in the late 16th century, but came into the common vernacular in the late 19th century. In both cases, the definitions referred to products.)

Modern marketing is communicating.

To communicate clearly and ethically for the purpose of serving someone else, you must know three things.

• First, you must know who you are.
• Second, you must know who your audience is.
• Third, you must know how your service addresses a gap, a need or a desire on the part of the customer in a way that is different than anyone else.

Once you are either willing to uncover these truths, the next step is to translate them into clear, repeatable language. We call this process intrinsic branding, which begins on the inside. Doing this work creates a foundation for your brand that will last the lifetime of the brand.

Another mindset shift is to stop equating marketing with coercive, manipulative selling. That, indeed, is unethical.

Instead, consider that communicating who you are, empathizing with your audience and sharing stories about your services is about educating, inspiring and enlightening. This is ethical marketing.

It’s not about convincing. It’s not about deceiving. It’s not about “making a sale” or “closing the deal.” It’s about giving your audience the information they need to make an informed decision about how they will proceed.

Your job as the leader of your brand is not to convince anyone of anything. It is to inspire, connect with and act as the chief spiritual officer of the brand.

So many business people, entrepreneurs and consumers are disgusted by the coercion and manipulation proliferating throughout our economy. Many of these people even have the term “marketing” in their title.

They want to be part of a movement that changes the expectations around marketing. They also want to be given the room to be what they really are: storytellers, communicators, artists, psychologists, connectors, integrators and visionaries. They want to be respected for what they provide to the organizations and people they work for and not dismissed as a “necessary but burdensome” expense.

It is for this group of discouraged but courageous people we have created BeMa, our community of ethical and soulful people who want to revolutionize marketing by being more human. Growing steadily since we launched in April, our thoughtful members have found relief and inspiration as they practice telling stories, sharing frustrations and successes and learning from other intentional leaders who provide new framing about the work of communicating yourself and your business to the world. We’ve taken on discussions around failure, reticence to market, how to connect to an audience, living your brand’s mission, getting in tune with your inner storyteller, taking a break, making true connections on social.

It’s an approach that honors our individual and collective humanity, which vital to any ethical pursuit.

I believe it is possible to market ethically, if you are willing to be real, genuine and open, if you are willing to stand in contrast to an established system, if you are willing to redefine an industry and treat others as you would like to be treated.

If you are, join us.

Is it ethical to do this? Is it ethical to set out to convince someone they need something? Is it ethical to coerce someone into believing they need something?

I would say it is not, which is why instead of marketing a service ad-nasuem, with manipulation and coercion as your main tactic, we have created the idea of intrinsic branding.

What most people refer to as marketing, I consider as communicating. Maybe that’s because I have a bachelor’s degree in communication and a masters in nonfiction writing.