Do You Trust Me?

When the topic of “trust” comes up, I am always reminded of the scene from Disney’s Aladdin, where we are mesmerized by the romantic encounter between Aladdin and Jasmine that is quickly spoiled by a posse of palace guards storming into the room. Aladdin without delay reaches out his hand to Jasmine and asks, “Do you trust me?”. Jasmine hesitantly says “Yes” and Aladdin confidently grabs her hand yelling ‘Then jump!” as they tumble from the canopy and he leads her to safety.

As a marketer, this scene is reminiscent of most campaigns played out in the increasingly digital world, what judgment call will the consumer take on our advertising - will he or she click and take the leap?

One approach to increase the chance of a positive outcome and develop long-term relationships with customers is the use of “ethical marketing” to build trust. Now, there’s more to ethical marketing than the phrase might immediately suggest. It hints at some dichotomy of right and wrong; that if you’re not doing anything unethical in your marketing efforts then there’s little more to be said.

But ethical marketing isn’t merely the absence of unethical marketing; it’s a continuous process, a quest to achieve the best possible outcome for all parties involved, and an exercise in building trust. If customers perceive they’re being misinformed or mislead, however unintentional from your end, you not only risk alienating them but also damaging the trust relationship that’s been built up over time.

A soap brand received a lot of acclaim for an ad campaign featuring “real” models. The ad was meant to promote realistic body images and encourage women to love the way they looked. However, other ads for the same company both during and since featured stereotypical beautiful models whose images have been altered to hide imperfections. This illustrates how difficult it is to do the right thing in all circumstances.

In the banking sector where one of our ultimate goals is to integrate more closely into the day-to-day life of the customer, a relationship based on trust is not only desirable, it’s imperative. Therefore, here are a few points to keep in mind when it comes to ethical advertising online.

Personal Ethics

Ethics resides in a grey area with many fine lines and shifting boundaries without a high degree of personal ethics, it becomes difficult to navigate the road. As the person responsible for making the final call about advertising decisions, it is imperative that there should be high standards of personal ethics for the individual to ensure the marketing strategy will be ethical.

Presenting accurate information.

Islamic banks are bound to comply with Sharia principles for truth in advertising. So as well as being transparent about what is or isn’t advertising, there’s also the matter of giving people information that’s clear and accurate. Facts and figures about products need to be checked for accuracy and presented in such a way that they’re not potentially ambiguous or misleading. This not only makes decision making easier for the consumer, but strengthens the trust relationship and prevents dissatisfaction in the long run.

Choosing the right advertising formats.

Some digital advertising formats are unobtrusive. Others are downright annoying. Pop-ups, pop-unders, and ads that auto-play over websites are some of the most hated by users. Even pre-roll video ads and interstitials (ads that take over the screen before allowing you to continue to the expected content) can create a frustrating user experience. Using these formats can create an association in the mind of the consumer between an annoying experience and your brand. And that's exactly what you don't want.

That's not to say that particular digital ad formats can't work for you. Banner ads, though these days resulting in less click through because users are accustomed to mentally filtering them out, can actually be very effective for creating brand recognition and awareness. Aforementioned formats like pre-roll video or interstitial ads can be well received by customers if the content of the ads is pleasing and highly relevant (more on that soon). Ultimately, though, choosing advertising formats online should come down to what's most suitable to the particular campaign and what provides the best experience for the target audience.

Using social media wisely.

Every social media platform is its own maelstrom of content, so your message can quickly get lost inside the noise. Users are also quick to filter out, ignore or, let’s face it, become agitated with content that’s not relevant to them, which is why targeting your campaigns is so important.

Campaign optimisation should be viewed as an ongoing task. Every campaign should be regularly reviewed and refined with the goal of honing in on the most appropriate audience. Sharp targeting equals high relevance ads, which in turns equals a higher return on investment: You avoid alienating audiences who aren’t a good fit for your message, and build trust with those who are.

Another way to turn social media into a win-win marketing tool is to use it as a platform for exceptional customer service. Interactions with customers are publicly visible, they grow consumer trust and can even encourage people to spread word online about their positive experience with your brand. In this way, genuine customer-brand interaction over social media can be a kind of marketing strategy in itself.

Declaring sponsored content.

You read an article about a new product. The author is gushing about how great it is and how you need it in your life — so convincingly that you're starting to consider buying it. Then it hits you: This isn't someone's passionate opinion, this is sponsored content.

In this situation, how good the product is and whether the author genuinely advocates it becomes irrelevant, because ultimately the trust is lost. For transparency, any kind of sponsored content or advertorial should be clearly marked as such. Industry-funded studies and research papers get into similarly murky territory when they don't declare their origins (like when that research about chocolate being good for you turns out to be funded by the sugar industry. Talk about the definition of disappointment.)

Consumers want genuine, unbiased opinions about products and services, or at the very least for their advertorials to be clearly marked as such.

Ethical use of big data.

More information about customers is available to businesses now than ever before. This access to "big data" brings with it a great responsibility to maintain privacy and security, but also an incredible opportunity to create high relevance interactions with consumers.

Take direct email marketing. Using big data, customers can be finely segmented and only targeted with emails that are relevant to them. Another example might be using big data to offer a customer a product upgrade or promotion based on changes to their life circumstances. In this way big data not only allows customers to be provided with information and offers that are relevant and interesting to them, it also allows their needs to be recognised more quickly, even preempted, so that better and faster service can be provided.

Creating careful partnerships.

Partnering with other brands can be an incredibly effective way to double your marketing efforts. Think joint projects or cross-promotional efforts that put your brand in front of a whole new user base. That said, you should always form alliances with like-minded businesses who share an ethical philosophy and can be trusted to represent your brand with integrity. Align your business with an unethical brand, and you could well damage your own.

Ethical marketing: better for everyone.

Later in Disney’s epic story, Aladdin disguised as Prince Ali, asks Jasmine the same question again “Do you trust me?”. And once more, she has to make the judgement call, but this time, sensing that she knows Aladdin’s real identity and trusts him, Jasmine quickly says “yes” and joins Aladdin for a magic carpet ride and the happily ever after.

A customer-business relationship is like any other: For it to work there must be trust. Following these ethical guidelines is a way to foster just that.

Your customers want to know that the information you give them is accurate; that offers and promotions they receive from you will be relevant; and that their persona data is being used to provide them with the best possible service. Give them that, and a long and prosperous relationship together is something you can surely bank on.