Ethical Marketing For Conscious Businesses: Align With Your Ideal Clients
A Little Bit About Me
I used to be a tarot reader and reiki healer at the famous Hotel Cassadaga in Florida. This hotel has been featured on several paranormal shows, and it’s known for its psychic readers. I’ve done hundreds of readings on clients from around the world. If you’re curious about that part of my life, check out this article.
After taking some time for myself and my own healing, I decided to switch gears and build a freelance copywriting business. This way, I can channel my intuition and guidance into helping others build their conscious businesses.
I know what it’s like to be an entrepreneur in the spiritual/metaphysical industry, and I love working with brands I believe in to get their message out to more people.
I am also a singer/songwriter and a musical theatre performer, and I still love to make music and perform on stage. Feel free to check out my music here.
Now that I’ve introduced myself, let’s dive into the world of marketing!
Ideal Clients
Why is it so important to know who they are?
Well, for one…you can’t create a marketing strategy if you don’t know who you’re marketing to.
What is an ideal client? It’s someone who needs what you are selling. It’s someone who will resonate so profoundly with your offering that they will not hesitate to work with you or buy your product.
I suggest that you GET SPECIFIC.
You may want to do some market research to find out who would need and want your offering.
In acting school, we used to have to journal out our character development sheets. You should do something similar when crafting the image of your ideal client.
Who are they?
How old are they?
What is their gender expression?
Do they have any kids?
Are they married?
Where do they live?
What’s their job?
How do they spend their free time?
What issues do they struggle with daily?
How does your product or service help those issues?
How would this person like to be spoken to?
Ask yourself where your ideal clients spend their time (online and in-person). And do you have a presence in those places? If you don’t, that’s the first place to start with your marketing strategy. Get yourself visible in the places where your ideal client hangs out.
You might be thinking, “My service is for everyone. I want to reach as many people as possible. Won’t it be detrimental to narrow down my focus?”
The answer is a resounding “NO!”
You see…
WHEN WE MARKET TO EVERYONE, WE REACH NO ONE!
Think about it. If you were to craft a general ad, it would not be interesting. People want to feel like you are speaking directly to them. And that requires specificity.
Integrity and Ethics When Marketing Your Conscious Business
What is ethical marketing? And how do we do it?
A lot of people in the spiritual and conscious business field balk at the idea of sales and marketing. It feels icky, doesn’t it?
But it doesn’t have to!
While I do subscribe to the idea that we can be in flow and alignment with the Universe and magnetize opportunities to us, we also have to live our 3D experience and work with the resources we have available to us as human beings.
It’s really hard to have a successful business without employing marketing tactics. But there is a way to market AND honor your values. I call this Ethical Marketing.
At the end of the day, your product or service is meeting a need. Keep that in mind when you are marketing. You can use empathy for what your ideal customer is going through and show them that what you’re offering solves their problem. This is a good thing!
I’ll use an example from my own life.
I needed to upgrade my skincare routine, but I know that there are a lot of products out there that have crappy ingredients and don’t align with my values. Through social media marketing (an ad on Facebook and an influencer I follow), I found a brand that I LOVE. They not only sell cruelty-free and vegan products and give back to the ocean but also use high-quality ingredients.
I never would have known about them if it weren’t for marketing! And these are products I use twice a day that are enhancing my life.
One way to make sure that you are staying in integrity when you market your services and products is this: If you make statements, make sure they’re true!
If you’re claiming a product you sell does something, make sure that it does.
If you say you’re doing a sale for a limited time only, then don’t run the same sale after the limited time that you indicated.
Staying in integrity like this shows your customers that they can trust you and believe what you are saying.
We use human psychology to sell all the time, and there are three main touch points that I want to mention:
Scarcity
Authority
Peer confirmation
All three of these concepts can be used ethically.
Scarcity is a marketing tactic that encourages a lead to buy NOW, because if they wait, they may not be able to buy the product or service. An example of this would be a coaching service saying “I only have 2 coaching spots left in December. Book now to reserve your spot!” This tactic only gets icky when it is used in a dishonest way. So, remember, if you say you only have 2 spots left, make sure you really do.
Authority is about your credentials. Are you an expert in your field or do you have valuable experience that you bring to the table? Great! Make sure you highlight that on your website and in your marketing. People feel more comfortable buying from companies that they feel have authority. The way to establish authority with ethics in mind is simply to not lie about your credentials. Do the work to build your authority, so you can have lasting relationships with your customers and clients.
Finally, peer confirmation is when you use reviews and well-known names to boost your marketing. People feel more comfortable buying from a company that has made other people happy. So, don’t neglect to get feedback from your client base and use it on your website and in ads. As with the others, this tactic can be used with integrity as long as the reviews are real and honest.
What we’re focusing on here is people-first sales.
Rather than focusing on the sale and making money, you are focusing on how your product or service meets a need for your customer. You are building relationships with your clients and customers and focusing on solving their problems. You are empathizing with what they are experiencing and honestly working to help.
When you think of it like that, sales seem like a pretty good thing!
Marketing Funnels
Now, let’s talk about some marketing basics. Having an awareness of marketing funnels is key to building a strategy that converts leads into paying customers effectively. See the graphic below. Using your marketing content, you want to guide a lead from the top of the funnel down to the bottom. You can do this in many ways, but I’ve outlined an example below.
Awareness can be generated through ads, blogs, and website copy. You can use SEO-optimized writing to increase the likelihood that someone making a relevant search will find you and your offerings.
Interest is often piqued through excellent email campaigns that build a positive relationship between your company and your leads.
Desire is something that can be fueled through a value-packed free offering. You can offer this when you capture a lead’s email address. Make sure that whatever you offer helps solve a pressing need for your ideal customer.
The Action you want a lead to take is to purchase the product or service you have that offers VALUE to them. You should strive to exceed expectations with your offering to encourage your purchaser to keep coming back for more.
Referrals can be generated through reviews posted by people who have bought from you in the past, or you could create a more personal referral program that incentivizes your current customers to share what you do with others.
It’s easier to sell to someone who has already purchased from you before than it is to convert a new lead. Keep this in mind when creating your marketing funnel, and don’t neglect the people who are already loyal.
How do I stand out?
It may seem cliche, but…
Be YOU. No one else can be you like you can.
Don’t try to be like other businesses in your field or try to copy what someone else is doing. Take inspiration from them, sure. But understand that you will find and connect to your ideal customers when you focus on the ways that your business is unique.
Ask yourself:
What are my strengths as a business?
What is my best offering?
How is that offering different from what other people are doing?
Lean into the things that make you special, and you’ll be speaking the language of your client base.
If you want to take some off some of the load of coming up with a marketing strategy…
Consider hiring a professional copywriter!
Copywriters specialize in marketing content, and we are good at helping you come up with a plan that is tailored to the needs of your business. Taking this task off your plate helps you focus on what you do best!