Shopping and Marketing

Should Your "Company Ethics" Be Used as a Marketing Tool?

Ethical Marketing. For some companies that phrase may seem like
an oxymoron similar to “government intelligence.” For others
however, it’s a core operating value.

What exactly is “Ethical marketing”? According to a recently
released white paper on that subject, ethical marketing is a
model of ethical interactivity between businesses and consumers
that includes seven practices – notice, choice, access, contact,
security, horizon and intrusiveness.

Every day there are exciting new technologies being created that
open up endless possibilities for Internet Marketers. As a small
business owner, your email box is probably already flooded with
offers every day, telling you about the “next big thing” that
will help you sell more of your products or services to scores of
hungry buyers.

Right now, when a customer visits your Website, you’ve got the
potential to track what pages they visit, how long they stay,
what links they follow. To help make buying from you even
easier, your customers have the option of letting you “remember”
their personal information – everything from physical address to
preferences and previous purchases to their credit card
information.

You can even get their personal information – such as IP and
email addresses, without them having to type a single word, or
lift a finger to click a mouse.

Technology, by itself, isn’t inherently good or bad. What makes
the difference is your intent and how you use it.

Here are five issues when it comes to addressing privacy issues
that you should be thinking about, to ensure that your company is
participating in “ethical marketing” practices.

Gathering Information – Addressing Consumer Privacy Issues

NOTICE: Do you tell consumers what information you’re collecting,
how it will be used, whether it will be disclosed to anyone else,
and whether or not you’re using cookies?

CHOICE: Do you give visitors to your Website the choice to agree
with how you gather information and use it?

ACCESS: Do visitors to your Website have access to the
information you collect about them? Do they have the ability to
review and make changes to that information?

SECURITY: Do you let your customers know that you understand
their concerns about the protection of their private information,
and use best practices when transferring or storing their
information?

CONTACT: Do your visitors and know how to contact you, and have
the name of someone in your company to ask questions or register
complaints about privacy concerns or complaints? And are those
concerns or complaints handled in a professional manner
immediately?

Being ethical and honest in all business dealings has always been
considered good business practice. Doing business the way it has
“always been done” just doesn’t work with savvy consumers any
longer. In the wake of scandals like Enron and Arthur Anderson
and others, consumers have become more cautious and skeptical and
want to know more about the companies they’re doing business
with. Because of their concerns over privacy and safety issues,
many consumers are still hesitant about making purchases on the
Web.

So can your company’s core operating values – its ethics – become
an effective marketing tool?

Some experts say yes.

Here are some of the top ways small businesses can attract new
customers and maintain strong support and loyalty from current
ones:

1. Include words about your company’s integrity, commitment to
excellence and high standards in all your marketing, advertising
and on your Webpages. When you’re thinking about what you want
to say, think about these questions: How long has your company
been committed to excellence? Do you believe in integrity? How
do you handle customer service?

2. Offer concrete examples of how you’re committed to excellence,
integrity and honesty in all your dealings. Instead of just
saying “Our service department is committed to excellence”
explain why. What procedure do they follow? How are your
employees involved in ensuring customer satisfaction? What
guarantees do you offer your customers?

3. Get feedback from your customers. Even if you’re the only
employee in your business, you can benefit from one of the
secrets used by the Fortune 500 companies – it’s called “primary
market research” but what it boils down to is asking your
customers questions. Find out what they liked about doing
business with you. But also ask what they DIDN’T like, and then
take steps to solve any problems right away! Don’t make excuses,
and don’t make it tough for your customers to fix something they
consider to be a problem. Figure out a guarantee, and then stand
behind it.

4. If you own a brick and mortar store, you can run quarterly
promotions and in-house contests. For example, one inexpensive
idea is to run a contest that rewards the employee who provides
the best customer service during a specific time period. Or give
your employees buttons that say “Ask about our 100 percent
guarantee” etc. You can get really creative and make it fun for
your customers and your employees, with the end result that
everyone knows about your companies ethics and core operating
values.

5. Add tag lines under your company name that talk about your
company’s values. Include the same tag line on all marketing
materials. Just remember to use statements that your company
will be able to stand behind for a long time, because once that’s
what you become known for, the image will stick.

Just remember that if you're going to use your company's ethics
as a marketing tool, you need to adhere to them completely, with
a "no tolerance" policy for any unethical practices. If you
don't, this marketing tool could backfire, and you'll end up
losing your credibility and your customers.


Author
George Whitecraft

http://whitecraftshoppingmarketing.biz/info/l/tbp
http://whitecraftshoppingmarketing.biz/info/l/pba

posted by George @ 6:29 PM 0 comments