It’s the 21st century, the PEAK of knowledge is at the tip of our finger tips. There are Einsteins, Shakespeare’s, and Newton’s constantly surrounding you…. Or at least these people think of themselves as that. You see the 21st century is full of empowerment, self identification, and confidence, all good things, right? Well all good things until you’re reading reviews of the restaurant you and your significant other want to check out and you notice nothing but 5 star reviews with what seems like scripted replies and fake rave reviews…. Real or fake?
Today I’m covering cyber security, how safe is it out there, and how can you convince people to trust YOU?
The PwC, a network of firms online collecting information, claims that only “25% of consumers believe businesses handle their data responsibly”…. ONLY 25% (PwC.com).
This is a moral marketing dilemma. You see we are literally the first generation to have this much access to technology at once, so we’re all figuring it out at once. So there’s a lot to understand, where do we draw lines? How much can we really collect from others? We are experiencing what the American Marketing Association, or AMA calls a crisis of trust, consumers have lost faith in institutions ranging from business to government (AMA).
I would say were currently looking at a danger level of 4 out of 5 on a scale of 5 when it comes to online advertising. I say this because it is SO new and so there are privacy laws but they’re not very specific and usually in really small fine print that even if read doesn’t make sense to the average eye, so big companies are still getting away with a lot of scaring consumers. Remember the purge where everyone could do literally whatever they wanted? We are just now coming out of that in interweb version, as we learn more about how to use technology and how we can collect information about users. We are getting better, some websites make you consent to using cookies now, but there’s still a lot of work to do, and consumers are still scared. Which means your job, convincing consumers to trust you, is even harder.
The EU actually has a law that requires companies to specifically spell out what they’re collecting from consumers and consumers have to opt IN not out… maybe we could learn a thing or two.
There are grey areas but as marketers it is our duty to act responsibly and ethically for our consumers. So I have put together a checklist to live by to strengthen that relationship and come across as honest as possible:
–Knowing your target market – First of all know who it is you’re reaching out to, potentially the number one step in any kind of marketing so this one should be a no brainer!
-Be as objective as possible – Being objective wins huge bonus points, explain what you’re selling and let that be consumers guide, your product/ service should sell itself anyways : )
-Be transparent – Don’t pretend you’re the absolute best or the biggest top dog, consumers don’t even like that, shop local is in, big corporate is out. You’d be surprised how a story and explaining your background can gain following.
-Speak the truth – Like I said, everyone loves a good story, speak the truth about you, your brand, and what you’ve developed.
-Think through before you post/ create – We have seen FAR too many marketing mishaps. Dare I bring up the H&M children’s clothing brand mishap of last winter? Or Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi ad that was immediately taken down?
-Imagine the implications – Basically just imagine your sweet sweet grandmother reading it and how she would feel, would she approve? Even better, would she be proud?
-Revise again, and again, then post – The internet is forever, read it over, make sure it is to the best of your ability, and then post.
-Sit back and be proud of your work! – You did a good ethically responsible thing, be proud of yourself! Celebrate!
Work Cited:
Ama. “Can Marketers Repair Social Media’s Crisis of Trust?” Medium, AMA Marketing News,
4 May 2018,
medium.com/ama-marketing-news/can-marketers-repair-social-medias-crisis-of-trust-6
7f3fb1f797.
Boote, Tim. “What Have Ethics Got to Do with Digital Marketing?” Digital Marketing Magazine, 17 Jan. 2017,
digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/digital-marketing-features/what-have-ethics-got-to-do-w
th-digital-marketing/4031.
PricewaterhouseCoopers. “Consumer Intelligence Series: Protect.me.” PwC, 2019
www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/library/consumer-intelligence-series/cybersecu
ity-protect-me.html.
“Privacy Policies Are Legally Required.” PrivacyPolicies.com, 2019,
www.privacypolicies.com/blog/privacy-policies-legally-required/amp/.
“What Is Cyber Security? Definition, Best Practices & More.” Digital Guardian, 15 July 2019,
digitalguardian.com/blog/what-cyber-security.
