Influencers have become key tools in the marketing world, capable of shaping opinions, influencing purchasing decisions and even changing behaviors of their followers. However, this power of influencers has consequences and carries with it an ethical responsibility. Join us as we explore the different aspects that brands and influencers need to consider in order to create ethical, transparent, and authentic campaigns.
In marketing, ethics refers to the moral principles and values that guide the actions and decisions taken by companies and marketers. It involves the application of ethical standards from research processes to product development, promotion, and subsequent sale.
The concept of ethical marketing entails avoiding dishonest or manipulative practices that jeopardize the privacy or rights of consumers.
Social responsibility in marketing is the obligation of companies to contribute to the general welfare of society and the environment. This goes beyond compliance with laws and regulations since the central purpose is to generate, through marketing strategies, a positive impact on society.
Now, ethical marketing with influencers requires that all of the above elements are met, always striving for transparency, honesty, and authenticity in the promotion of products or services offered by content creators. Disclosing any paid relationship or collaboration with brands is necessary to ensure that followers are informed about the nature of the business relationship.
From a social responsibility perspective, content creators should be aware of their influence on followers and take responsibility for promoting products and services that are safe and ethical; they should not encourage harmful or irresponsible behavior.
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Although the “8 principles of business ethics” is not a definitive list, it certainly reflects some ethical values that organizations around the world should follow in their business and marketing operations:
The characteristics of ethical marketing include the values mentioned above. All actions between companies and influencers should be transparent and honest with the community.
Responsible and ethical influencers care about the well-being of their audiences and respect them. They consider how recommendations affect followers and avoid encouraging harmful or irresponsible behavior. In addition, they respect the privacy and rights of their audiences by properly handling personal information and asking for consent before sharing it.
In addition, ethical influencer marketing strategies should be diverse and inclusive, leaving no room for discrimination or exclusion. Brands that want to be more sensitive to the differences in our diverse society should avoid using stereotypes in their key messages and hire content creators committed to diversity and inclusion of all communities. Working on campaigns with equal representation of minority groups that have traditionally been displaced is also an appropriate way to achieve inclusive strategies.
Finally, moral and responsible influencers are mindful of their social and environmental obligations. They may use their platform to support social causes, raise awareness of important issues, and promote sustainable practices in their daily work. They care about how their actions will affect society and the environment and seek to contribute positively to the well-being of both.
73% of active social media users expect influencers to be transparent in the content they share according to a study conducted by We Are Social. On the other hand, the effectiveness of ethical influencer marketing has been proven, as a 2021 survey found that 89% of social media users in the United States believe that transparency in influencer marketing is important.
These are some figures that reflect the importance of brands developing ethical marketing strategies together with their influencers. The credibility and long-term trust relationship that influencers can have with their communities depends to a large extent on ethics.
But at the same time, ethics in influencer marketing also implies that the creators are selective about the brands they promote, selecting products or services that they consider to be of high quality and of benefit to their followers.
As we have seen , ethics play a crucial role in influencer marketing by building trust, maintaining credibility and authenticity, protecting the audience, and complying with the standards set out in laws worldwide.
However, some ethical issues can arise in influencer marketing partnerships:
Ethical marketing in influencer campaigns can have several benefits, including:
To create an ethical marketing plan you should consider a series of factors that will allow you to maintain high standards of quality and social responsibility and generate lasting connections between consumers and your brand.
Defining the values and ethical principles that are aligned with your business philosophy is the first step in building the plan. Asking yourself with what values you want to be associated with or how you want to be recognized as a brand will allow you to determine clear objectives in terms of brand reputation, consumer trust, and positive social impact.
Verify the quality and ethics of the products or services to be promoted before starting the collaboration. Make sure they meet the necessary standards and regulations and are beneficial and safe for consumers. If you are an influencer, avoid engaging with products or brands that may be harmful to the audience or that may generate a negative emotional impact on social media.
For the success of your marketing plan, you must choose influencers who share your values, objectives, and professional ethics. To do this you should closely follow their content and how they interact with their audience, collaborations, and campaigns with other brands. Look for influencers who are transparent, honest, and promote quality products in a responsible way as this will end up generating more engagement with the target audience, more traffic to your website, and more recognition of your brand.
If you want to manage a responsible marketing campaign but still don’t know how to identify the best profile, remember that Kolsquare offers a platform that allows professionals to identify the best KOL profiles, manage their campaigns, and evaluate their results efficiently.
Communication is important in this ethics process. The partnership agreement should set out the objective of the campaign, key messages, and general advertising terms and conditions. Establish clear guidelines on how influencers should disclose any compensation received and how they should maintain integrity in their content.
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Brands and influencers must comply with established advertising and consumer protection regulations, which include, among other things, transparent disclosure of sponsorships. You can consult the laws in effect for Spain later in this post.
Track the performance of collaborations. Evaluate the ethical and commercial impact of collaborations, reviewing audience response and interaction, trust built, consumer loyalty, and any positive social impact.
Consider that in the digital environment the most effective way to optimize marketing budgets and make more informed decisions to improve competitiveness is by evaluating metrics. For this reason, we share with you Kolsquare’s guide on how to track your influencer marketing campaigns.
More than 92% of millennial consumers prefer to buy products that come from ethical brands, so it’s critical that companies integrate ethical marketing strategies. Our recommendation for brands and influencers is that they listen to what consumers, especially the new generations, demand from companies, which in a generalized way corresponds to issues related to the protection of the environment and the defense of social causes.
In Spain, 62% of consumers believe that environmental protection is a very important issue, according to the Eurobarometer published in March 2020 by the European Commission; but they also believe that 91% of companies are not taking sufficient action to reduce their environmental impact. It is therefore essential that brands take into account the needs of audiences and include these issues in their ethical marketing plans.
Read also: How to increase customer loyalty with sustainability influencers
More and more consumers are looking for brands and products that are environmentally friendly and committed to sustainability. This is why in influencer marketing environmental awareness means adopting responsible practices and promoting messages that encourage sustainability and environmental protection.
Another trend in marketing in Spain and around the world which is gaining more and more prominence is responsible consumption. More and more often we find accounts that promote a more minimalist lifestyle, avoiding excessive consumption, and rejecting, for example, “fast fashion“.
According to figures provided by Greenpeace, every second a truckload of clothes ends up being thrown into landfills or rivers or being incinerated, producing great environmental pollution. The UN has also confirmed that fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world, producing more than 8% of greenhouse gasses and 20% of wastewater per year.
Brands that share this philosophy focused on responsible consumption can manage their campaigns with like-minded influencers.
We recommend you to read: 5 mistakes you should not make in your next Influencer Marketing Campaigns
In recent years we have seen how the trend of vegan, vegetarian, and other practices associated with animal protection influencers is growing.
In addition to promoting the consumption of plant-based foods, and thus reducing the mistreatment of food-producing animals, influencers are beginning to raise awareness about the use of animal products in other sectors, such as fashion or cosmetics.
In 2020, the organization AnimaNaturalis conducted a survey in Spain that found that 80% of Spanish consumers prefer to buy products from brands that do not test on animals. In addition, according to a study conducted by the consulting firm Nielsen in Spain, 64% of Spanish consumers would be willing to pay more for products that have not been tested on animals.
It is estimated that in Spain there are more than 1.56 million influencers active in networks as published in the IAB Spain and Nielsen study Brand Growth. The large number of content creators has forced governments in all countries, including Spain, to implement regulations governing the practice .
The General Law of Audiovisual Communication (LGCA), better known as the “Influencers Law in Spain”, establishes rules for influencers and content creators on social networks regarding advertising, protection of minors, and transparency of the information and content they share. The law obliges influencers to report on their activity and the income received from it, protect minors, and clearly identify advertising and promotion on social networks.
The Association for Self-Regulation of Commercial Communication (AUTOCONTROL) and the Advertising Observatory of the National Consumer Institute established the Code of Conduct on the use of influencers in advertising. This code aims to monitor influencers’ advertising practices and ensure that their actions are transparent and truthful. According to the code, any advertising on social platforms must be clearly identifiable. To this end, it proposes the use of terms such as “advertising“, “in collaboration with” or “sponsored by” to make it clear to audiences that it is content sponsored by a brand, which implies a payment or contribution in exchange for a promotional mention by the influencer.
In addition to these specific rules for the work performed by influencers on social networks, there are other general regulations established previously that are related to some influencer marketing practices:
The General Advertising Law establishes the general rules governing advertising in Spain. It decrees the principles of truthfulness, legality, and honesty in commercial communication, which also apply to the activities of influencers.
Said law also determines the guidelines for the content of advertisements, including the prohibition of discriminatory, offensive or contrary to public order and morality advertising.
The General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users establishes the rights and obligations of consumers in their relations with companies and service providers. The law covers a wide range of areas, including product safety, advertising and marketing practices, contract terms, and dispute resolution mechanisms.
A new version of the law was passed in 2022 that includes changes related to online sales, digital services, and consumer rights in the collaborative economy; this is where some influencer marketing practices come under regulation.
This law establishes the rules on personal data protection in Spain. Influencers must comply with the provisions of this law when collecting, storing, and using personal data of their followers.
Kolsquare is Europe’s leading Influencer Marketing platform, a data-driven solution that allows brands to scale their KOL Marketing strategies and implement authentic partnerships with KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders). Kolsquare’s technology enables marketing professionals to easily identify the best Content Creators profiles by filtering their content and audience, and to build and manage their campaigns from A to Z, including measuring results and benchmarking performance against competitors. Kolsquare has built the largest community of influencer marketing experts in the world, and offers hundreds of customers (Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sony Music, Publicis, Sézane, Sephora, El Corte Inglés, Lacoste, …) the latest Big Data, AI and Machine Learning technologies to drive inspiring partnerships, tapping into an exhaustive network covering 100% of KOLs with more than 5,000 followers in 180 countries on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. As a Benefit Company, Kolsquare has been pioneering Responsible Influence by championing transparency, ethical practices, and meaningful collaborations to inspire change.
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