Can We Trust Social Media Marketing?
The content of this article is the opinion of the writer and was written for The Source
Data Mining
Earlier this year, I did something I previously found unthinkable as a small business owner and content creator: I decided to pause all of my social media advertising. I typically write about issues related to the extraction of our raw materials from the Earth and international initiatives related to responsible mining. Yet with the holiday season approaching, (and for many of us, the time of year we spend the most money on social media advertising), I want to bring up an important issue we need to consider: data mining. Like many other designers and small business owners, I saw social media ads as a cost-effective way to connect with audiences who may be searching for responsibly-made jewelry and meet potential new clients.
Promotional release poster
However, I decided I could no longer ignore the more insidious effects of social media advertising. Many users aren't aware of the volume or types of data being collected on them by social giants such as Instagram/Facebook. After recently watching "The Social Dilemma" on Netflix which features many of the creators of these social media tools and algorithms, and several of the execs who pioneered the monetization of social media, I've decided to make my aforementioned pause permanent.
As a small business owner who prioritizes responsible sourcing and business practices, I try to consider the broader impact of my purchases and actions; from how my raw materials are sourced all the way to the delivery of a finished piece of jewelry to a client. Furthermore, as a digital marketer, content creator, and former advertiser, I have to consider my role in the ecosystem of social media.
I had to ask myself: how can I act ethically using data collected by social media platforms? Can social media ads be used ethically and responsibly if the data is collected from users without their knowledge? How has my ad spending fed a system in which I am simultaneously the maker, the client, and the product being sold?
The Ethical Issues of Social Media
As a former advertiser, I wholeheartedly agree with the assertions made in "The Social Dilemma" that as users of social media, we are not the clients of Facebook Inc. or any other social media company. Businesses, organizations, and content creators are the clients, and their ad spending accounts for close to 98% of Facebook's revenue. Our online experience and data of our clients, friends, and network data are the resources being mined.
“The product being sold is our future behavior.”
What kind of data is being collected for advertisers, exactly?
Everything from how long you watched a particular video or looked at a certain ad, to the last time you made a deposit in your bank account, the make and model of your car, the last time you ate at your favorite restaurant, your relationship status, and more.
It's unprecedented the level of intimate detail advertisers can target us based on, and even as a former advertiser, I have to say it can feel a little invasive.
Despite widespread distrust of social media platforms, we still freely give up our data, and ¾ of Facebook and Instagram users are not aware that the platform creates and keeps lists of their personal interests for advertisers, according to the Pew Research Center. Additionally, Facebook also tracks us all off the app, as 543,402 businesses are known to be using the Facebook pixel to track users and conversions (how many people go on to “add to cart” or “checkout” from an ad or post) on their websites. Facebook isn't the only one, Google and Pinterest offer similar “cookies” one can add to their site for targeting.
Social media advertising, from Adobe Stock
A second issue is the tactics social media companies use to keep us engaged and using their app. In order to get us to see more and react to more ads, social media platforms build in features to keep us engaged and spending more time in front of our screens, such as auto-playing videos, endless scrolling, and push notifications. Limited time interaction posts like Instagram Stories drive a lot of engagement and are vital in creating FOMO. The Fear Of Missing Out is no accident; it's by design. As content creators, we play into this cycle too by tracking our views, clicks, follows, and engagement and releasing content to our audiences at times they are most likely to be seen and engaged with. We do this using the same data we use to optimize ad delivery. We as business owners aren't immune to falling for these tactics either.
There is no doubt that social media has a significant influence over our lives, from what news and real-world events we see to whom we connect with (doubly so during the COVID-19 pandemic), but at what point does influence become manipulation? To give you a jewelry related example, as an advertiser, I could target women in affluent areas with a certain income and education level who have been in a relationship for at least one year and had a friend or close friend get engaged in the last month. Is this type of targeting helpful in connecting with someone who may soon be looking for a ring? Or is this amplifying existing social pressures in order to manipulate? The answer is likely a bit of both.
As an advertiser, I had to ask myself why I even have access to this kind of information. Social media advertising also isn't regulated, other than the Federal Trade Commission ruling, that ads must clearly be labeled as such. This limited ruling doesn't even touch on social media's ethical issues related to declining mental health in its users (especially kids and teens), spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation, discrimination, and extremism. However, I encourage everyone to do their own research on these vital points as well.
How Can We Advertise Ethically?
Ethics, from Adobe Stock
While there are tons of resources online detailing the how-to's of digital marketing and social media advertising, there are surprisingly few resources available for business owners and advertisers around how to use these tools (and our data) responsibly. We know about the ethical issues of social media advertising and how companies use arguably stolen data to drive their targeting AI (Artificial Intelligence), so what can we do as responsible marketers and business owners?
Even legally speaking, there isn't much regulation around digital marketing and how we use data for advertising, especially in the United States. Andrea Hill of Strategy Werx (full disclosure Andrea is a member of EM's Advisory Council), recommends online retailers actively use the EU's GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) standard for all digital marketing activity (even US-based retailers), as it's currently the best guideline we have for protecting our clients' data.
The GDPR standard requires businesses to obtain express consent to use personal data for marketing purposes, including email marketing as well as the use of targeting and advertising cookies. Have you ever added a client or colleague's email address from their business card to your email list? If the answer is yes, stop. This practice is a violation of GDPR as they didn't explicitly consent to receive your marketing emails (not to mention it makes your online interaction instantly feel spammy). Check with your web hosting platform on how to add GDPR compliance to your site; implementing GDPR is a great place to start because it establishes a baseline of disclosure and consent.
Another good place to start is thinking about what ethical marketing looks like to you beyond legal standards. The American Marketing Association outlines 6 ethical values of marketing:
Honesty – Be forthright in dealings and offer value and integrity.
Responsibility – Accept the consequences of marketing practices and serve the needs of customers of all types.
Fairness – Balance buyer needs and seller interest fairly, and avoid manipulation in all forms while protecting the information of the consumers. (This one isn't so straightforward when you factor in sophisticated targeting and retargeting AI)
Respect – Acknowledge the basic human dignity of all the people involved through efforts to communicate, understand, and appreciate others' contributions.
Transparency – Create a spirit of openness in the practice of marketing through communication, constructive criticism, action, and disclosure.
Citizenship – Fulfill all legal, economic, philanthropic, and societal responsibilities to all stakeholders as well as give back to the community and protect the ecological environment.
As business owners in the responsible jewelry space, we embody many of these values in our messaging, the sourcing of our materials, hiring practices, and more, so we must consider the need for fairness and transparency in our marketing and advertising as well, so we don't unwittingly contribute to the looting of our clients' data as well as our own.
How Can We Avoid Using Data That Wasn't Really "Given" To Us For Advertising?
GDPR, from Adobe Stock
The Smithee Group recommends avoiding Facebook's interest-based and other variables, (think avoiding targeting based on brands users like, interests such as fashion or gold jewelry, lifestyle variables such as veganism or fitness, or relationship status, etc) if you're leery of the data they collect. They instead suggest using the Facebook pixel on your website and creating a custom audience of only your website visitors. When combined with GDPR compliant cookie banners (meaning visitors to your site can opt-out of your targeting and advertising cookies), you would only be advertising to only those who visited your site and consent to being retargeted.
Andrea Hill similarly suggests using your GDPR-compliant email list to create a custom audience of clients and fans who already opted into your marketing communications to target on social media.
For those who don't feel comfortable using Facebook or Instagram ads at all, The Smithee Group recommends Google as another alternative (or a complement to the above Facebook ads strategy). They stated, "We see Google Search as a great tool to generate awareness and exposure among prospective customers that are actively seeking out services and products that you offer. You can bid for keywords and terms/phrases related to what customers would be searching for."
For some, using a search engine like Google (and arguably Pinterest) to advertise feels like a more ethical approach, as ads only appear to those actively searching for keywords related to your business rather than ads popping up unsolicited in their social media feeds. Keep in mind that Pinterest uses similar tactics as Facebook to keep users engaged and scrolling on the platform, and like Facebook requires the use of the Pinterest Tag to become a verified seller and take full advantage of many of their advertising and marketing features.
Stop Hate for Profit, from Stop Hate for Profit
For those who don't feel that financially contributing to the bottom line of any of these social media and tech giants whose use of our data fits with their ethics, I encourage you to keep voting with your dollar and to check out the Stop Hate for Profit campaign. However, I don't have any paid advertising suggestions to offer. Personally, I'm in this boat with you as I continue to do my own research on this topic. I encourage you to look into organic SEO strategies, generating organic traffic on the platforms your clients and prospective clients use most, and building your GDPR-compliant email list.
As Andrea put it, "Email addresses facilitate permission-based marketing that can be targeted closely to individual preferences and desires. That honors one of the most important lessons of marketing: that to be good, marketing must be relevant. While retargeting/remarketing are all the rage of the moment, they're like buying fast-fashion or eating junk food . . . they won't pay off in the long run. That's the funny thing about ethical business. On every level, ethical business is ultimately better business."’
For more resources, check out the Digital Wellness Collective, The Social Dilemma, and Stop Hate for Profit.
To check out what information Facebook collects on you for advertisers, click here.
To manage what information Pinterest shares with advertisers, click here.
To manage your privacy and ad preferences on Google, click here.
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