The Next Step: What does Ethical Marketing Mean to You?
After prices are ‘normal’, what else can we do to revolutionize the marketing industry to turn it into an ethical industry so that we can become a healthier and happier society?
What about copywriting? How do you feel when you receive 3 mails a day during a company’s launch? About these ‘Last Chance’ mails? Does it make you feel like you better act now or else? Honestly, what does that ‘or else’ mean anyway? Will there be no more products to sell after a certain date. Hardly.
Is adding that feeling of urgency and scarcity in your communication also manipulative? There is a time when you actually have a deadline, e.g. with an event and there’s a time when it’s not necessary. Let me explain.
I taught a masterclass on Tuesday, May 15th and thought about letting three people in for free. Unfortunately, I thought about it a little too spontaneously and didn’t have enough time to properly announce it, so what did I do? I invited my email subscribers and my changemaker’s group members to fill out a short form to apply for a free spot. I gave them 24 hours to do this because that’s all the time I had to prepare for these three extra seats. There was a sense of urgency.
Was that necessary? In my case, yes! It was a free scholarship, so I think this is OK, but I still felt awful because I know there were other potential candidates who would have loved to have had the chance to apply. Lesson learned: I will give more than 24 hours for my next scholarship so that more people have a chance to apply!
In the past, I usually send one last mail announcing that I have ?? spots left. In my classes, I only want a limited number of people because I offer individual care during and after the class so I know how much I can handle. BUT, was it actually necessary to write that I still had ?? spots left? No! I could have left that out completely and just wrote about the course content and how my participants will benefit. No one needs to know how many spots are left.
However, some people may feel that it’s 100% ethical to announce the ?? spots that are left. It’s done all the time! Every single day. What’s so wrong with that?
It makes the reader feel they need to act now or else. It instills that urgency and scarcity feel and that’s manipulative. So no more ?? spots left in my mails. I’m done!
We only start to make a difference after we become aware of our actions.
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