Transparency in Marketing

John Vachalek - 11.11.2009 7:27 AM

There is a lot of talk today about transparency in marketing and what this means.

A blog post that I recently read defines transparency as, “the degree to which a company shares its leaders, employees, values, culture, strategy, business processes and the results of those processes with its publics. It’s the opposite of opacity, in which companies operate behind closed doors and shuttered windows." (By Shel Holtz of Shel Holtz PC , http://blog.holtz.com/index.php)

This definition is as good as any for this post on why marketing transparency is so important for your business and the questions you need to ask today!!

In a world filled with social media, blogs, email, texting and the capability for any individual to greatly influence any brand through the use of these tools, complete transparency in your marketing is a must. Gone are the days of businesses acting as the sole voice of their brands in the marketplace. There is also an increased awareness and questioning by consumers of how socially responsible companies conduct their business.

We chose to write about this today, because this is big ship to steer for most companies. If you are not beginning to think about full transparency as a fact, and how your business will measure up, now is the time to ask some fundamental questions.

1. Do your ads and marketing accurately reflect the experiences your clients/customers will have with your brand when they do business with you?
2. How can you make the experience of doing business with your company exceed the expectations of your clients / customers?
3. What would the employees of your company say in an interview if asked about the experience of working at your company?
4. What is your company doing to make the lives of your employees better?
5. Are the principles and managers of your company setting a good example, living their lives with values and are they passionate about what they do to help your clients / customers?
6. What is your company doing to conserve natural resources and be more green?
7. Is your company always acting in a socially responsible way to improve the lives of people outside your company? This can be those within your community, your region or people around the world, depending on the size of your company.

How should you use this information?

1. Answer the questions above honestly and reflect upon the answers.
2. Realize that anyone, at any time, can post information about your company on the Internet for the entire world to see.
3. Begin monitoring the conversation about your brand on the Internet by using Google Alerts or similar tool to ensure that you are part of the dialogue.
4. Create a feedback system for anyone who wants to get something off their chest and be responsive to these needs.  This will allow you to create a solution instead of someone ranting to world over something that you would have been happy to fix, if only you knew.
5. Make sure you are truly doing all the right things so that you can use full transparency as an advantage for your company.

We welcome your comments and feedback about this post.  Please feel free to comment below.

5 Responses to "Transparency in Marketing"