Why should we be more socially-conscious in our marketing?

Last week was #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek which got us thinking about why we should be more conscious in our marketing.

Our decisions are affected by inbound marketing every day.

Not sure what to watch tonight?

‘Oh, there’s a Kylie Jenner post, I’ll watch the Kardashians!’

Not sure if your six month old phone is still up to date?

“Oh look, a Facebook ad with financing to purchase a new phone”

We’re all being marketed too, whether you realise it or not.

Unfortunately in the world we live in now, marketing has become a key influence on the decline of mental health- specifically in teens.

The onus is on us, the Instagrams of the world, the Facebook of the world to market more responsibly and to the right audiences. Not to easily impressional audiences.

While a lot of work has been done to change the stigma surrounding mental health, there is still a great effort that needs to be made in order to address the issue head on in society.

We’re going to take a look at how we can all be more conscious in our marketing and messaging.

It is our job every day to encourage people to take action. However, not at any cost, and most certainly not at the expense of people’s mental health.

What is conscious marketing?

Conscious marketing is all about building something so compelling it fits into the heart of your business and services.

You want people to tell others about you and share your business, these customers become advocates for you which means you require little advertising and mass marketing.

It starts with having a product or service that fulfils a human need, rather than creating a superficial want.

Let’s use the global crises of the worlds natural state rapidly declining, as an example.

We are all aware of global warming.

Some of us have taken a conscious decision to live a completely sustainable and ‘green’ lifestyle in an effort to save the world and it’s creatures. Recycling doesn’t just stop there, learn how to reduce, reuse and recycle your content.

Vegan-ism is becoming a large part of society, and rightly so. The core focus being on the environment.

Whilst some of us are just doing our bit by recycling in our homes, not buying and using plastic bags for our shopping or by using bamboo toothbrushes.

The rise in demand for us all to be more sustainable and conscious in our consumption and usage has naturally led to a change in marketeers messaging.

The conscious consumer will put their purchase on hold with loads of questions, and most likely some research leading up to their final decision to buy- based on a host of determining factors.

This is where our roles as a marketer, for social significance, becomes so important.

This is where our roles as a marketer, for social significance, becomes so important.

• What does the customer think about?
• What troubles them?
• Where do they devote their thought, energy and time?
• Is there room, wherever they are, for your message?
• Could people feel wrongly pressured by your messaging?

Answering these questions before you tailor your marketing message to be more conscious will also encourage you to take on an inbound marketing approach.

What is Inbound Marketing? It’s all about being helpful, human and holistic by answering the questions your customer is searching for- in the hopes of attracting them to you.

How Can we be More Socially-Conscious in our Marketing?

It’s down to us as marketeers to take a step towards making more socially-conscious and informed marketing decisions. This means thinking about the negative implications a certain message could have on your target audience.

Socially-conscious marketing campaigns have gained popularity as brands respond to what millennial consumers are interested in.

Millennials are increasingly more connected to charitable causes and actively look to buy into brands that only align with causes that they care about.

They are much more likely to research into the causes and culture of a certain company before purchasing from it, meaning it’s more important than ever for your business to clearly communicate the causes that your company is committed to.

Missguided the online clothing retailer, noticed the trend in mental health being associated with body image in their target audience of young teenage girls.

Teenage girls are twice as likely to suffer from depression due to social media, than teenage boys.

They took a giant leap in fashion marketing and started to only use models with a diverse range of body shapes, sizes and ‘imperfections’ that would otherwise be photoshopped out.

They marketed themselves as promoters of body diversity and positive body image, not only by using plus size models but models in wheelchairs, models with skin pigmentation, stretch marks and scars.

What about the time ASOS recently used a social media user as their model after she was body shamed online for something she was wearing?

The brand took a stand against body shaming by using their marketing to position themselves as socially-conscious thought leaders in body positivity.

The fashion industry has held heavy connotations of perfect body image for years and it’s slowly breaking the mould and building bridges with the nations men and women.

But now we have a new epidemic on our societies hands.

The rise in reality TV and social influencers.

I’m sure we have all heard in the news the impact social media is taking on teenage girls body image and subsequently the heart-breaking knock on effect on their mental health.

This can all be put down to unconscious marketing of social influencers. Behind the screen of social media and the power of easily accessible and useable editing apps, you can create an unrealistic perception of a perfect life, body, family and lifestyle.

These perceptions are all just marketing messages that haven’t been conscious in their approach by only ever showing the good and pretending the bad doesn’t exist.

Think about it this way, you wouldn’t market the bad features of a product, you focus on the good.

This is how Instagram has become a marketing platform, but for people to market themselves.

Instagram now has an overtone of a place for ‘perfect’ Instagram girls, everyone wants to take and post the ‘perfect’ Instagram to optimise their chances of getting as many likes as possible. Although, could this be the end of Instagram as we know and ‘like’ it? The photo sharing platform is currently trialing the removal of likes.

As marketers we should all be making more socially-conscious decisions in our approach to our marketing messages.

By thinking about who we’re talking to, what they want, what they need and what’s important to them- so we can start to be more considerate in our marketing.

Socially- conscious marketing has become a powerful way for businesses to form their brand and connect with their consumers on a deeper level. This then brings new customers and a new sense of loyalty to your brand.

But it has to be done in the right way. Issue-based ad campaigns can be divisive and generate both positive and negative publicity.

Ads have the possibility of falling flat on their nose and pushing people away, if seen as insincere it could turn customers against your brand.

If you take the right approach, socially-conscious marketing is an extremely powerful tool, not only for your marketing strategy but for the wider society.

We should all strive to be more socially-conscious in our marketing. We’re specialists in Inbound Marketing- a helpful, human and holistic way of marketing.