For the past two years, I have been struggling with the question of marketing, how to do it effectively, sustainably and also ethically. This journey has presented me with a philosophical conundrum: is marketing inherently manipulative and deceitful and thus impossible to do ethically?
Much like many other businesses and individuals with a conscience, for a long time I got around this dilemma by resorting to the notion that it did not matter if marketing was manipulative, because it was what I needed to do in order to attract customers to a product or service that ultimately offers them value and enhances their lives. “I am helping people,” was my justification.
All I needed was to learn how to do it effectively and to acquire all the necessary tools in order to understand it fully so that I could choose ethical practices that did not manipulate my audience. As part of this process, I began following and listening to social media gurus and influencers who were sharing their secrets about how to grow an audience.
Inevitably, what started out as practical tips and tricks to enhance your social media content, take better pictures and grow your follower count turned into an endless stream of motivational messaging and positivity porn that left me feeling stranded for meaning. I began to feel pressured to always be motivated and…