Consumer and business prospects are more guarded than ever against deceptive and misleading marketing efforts. Protective steps may also shield them from your messages. 

sketchy types harm prospecting efforts
here’s how to take the high road and win market share

The old saw, “let the buyer beware,” is truer than ever in this technological age and it is also making ethical marketing more difficult and expensive.

Consumers and businesses are being bombarded by illegal and unethical marketing driven by inexpensive technology. The steps they are taking and the tools they are using to protect themselves may also be shielding them from your marketing efforts. The e-mail spam pushing fake Viagra, herbal supplements and the $10 million your long lost uncle in Nigeria left, the faxes selling Bahaman vacations and cheap health insurance and the automated telephone calls urging you to extend your automobile warranty or reduce your credit card interest rates are just a few examples.

“People are taking cover. They are adding their telephone numbers to the Do Not Call Registry, screening calls, turning their fax machines off at night and using ever-more-powerful anti-spam controls,” says Tim Coco, president and chief executive officer of COCO+CO. “Consumers are not only angry, but becoming skeptical of legitimate offers if these marketing messages are even allowed to ever reach them.”

Even some low-tech direct mail offers are discouraging consumers from opening mail. For consumers, these pieces may include misleading offers from new car dealerships. Businesses receive such solicitations as phony Web domain and Yellow Page renewal offers.

smarter systems, ethical delivery are solutions

Getting noticed when your prospects and customers are shunning communication is challenging, but there are solutions.

• Rather than rely on scattered buck shot, marketers must use a targeted rifle shot. This requires developing an accurate profile of your best prospects and developing a careful strategy to determine which messages resonate and where and how best to reach them. Do not “spin” your information. Rather, pass along straight forward information and a list of economic or emotional benefits. Your audiences will embrace your direct approach and believe you best understand their needs.

• Be creative in choosing messages, imagery and delivery vehicles, but don’t try to trick people into reading your piece. They will be disappointed and will share with others their low view of your unethical tactics.  Instead, use irregular shapes, quality photography, audience-centered language and other techniques to stand out from the crowd. 

• Outsource only to trustworthy firms with which you maintain iron clad confidentiality agreements. It will cost a bit more to develop custom e-mail newsletters, for example, but your piece will better represent your brand, be tailored to your prospects and demonstrate security. You won’t have to worry some distant online company is stealing your customer lists and reselling them. It has been alleged that some of those do-it-yourself e-mail marketing firms can afford to sell you services at low rates because another part of the company is selling your confidential customer data.

• In this regard, also be sure the company with which you signed an agreement actually has the ability to comply. Some companies selling Web services, for example, actually outsource themselves. During the dot bomb crisis at the beginning of the decade, computers owned by liquidated firms showed up – with confidential customer data, including credit card numbers – on public auction blocks. You might have an agreement that legally covers you in these instances, but the bad publicity and lack of public trust could destroy you.

• Prohibit or discourage vendors from adding their names and information to your products – online or off-line. If your vendor’s name is found on both your material and those of a competitor accused of deceptive practices, inappropriate conclusions may be drawn.

• Be sure you receive copies of electronic messages sent by your customer relationship management (CRM) providers. You may learn your vendors are annoying customers by relentlessly bombarding them with contest offers or, worse, pitches for products and services they already use. Smarter systems that discern what products your customers are already using and then cross-market complementary services are the solutions to the latter problem.

two can play at that game…maybe not

Advertisers are mistaken if they believe they will succeed by adopting the same tactics as unscrupulous firms. First, misleading messages have always been illegal. Second, there are laws regulating electronic communication with hefty penalties for non-compliance. Third, businesses risk tarnishing their images, losing customers and forcing regulators to become more involved. In any event, one doesn’t build rapport and trust with customers by building the relationship on an unethical footing.

Formerly reputable companies are trying the same annoying techniques and alienating customers and prospects with poor results. Verizon, for example, is exploiting a loophole in the Do Not Call law and repeatedly autodialing customers to peddle its “Expert Care” computer support services. Likewise, University of Massachusetts—Lowell has been soliciting donations nightly. The Do Not Call law exempts companies with whom you have a business relationship or non-profits.

Verizon, however, wants it both ways. It won a court injunction and $25,000 settlement earlier this year against Murray, Utah-based Feature Films for Families to prevent the company from autodialing cell telephone customers. Verizon said the company made 500,000 calls to Verizon Wireless customers and employees promoting “The Velveteen Rabbit.” One-on-one cell phone advertising is legal, but using an autodialer is not.

Learn more about your audiences and then use the techniques here to better pinpoint them, address their needs and find vehicles that will efficiently reach them. “While current economic conditions may be forcing you to cut corners, resist the temptation to use services or tactics that will be viewed as sketchy or unethical,” says Coco.

Submit your comments to creative@cocoboston.com.