What Is Ethical Marketing?

Navigating the Grey Area With Compassion, Purpose & Integrity

(Photo on left of collage of woman to the side, but cutout eyes looking towards you held by hands. Reads: What is Ethical Marketing: Navigating Gray Area with Integrity)

🪷 Start Here for Quick Takeaways

• Ethical marketing is about transparency, consent, and sustainability, not perfection.

• Marketing doesn’t have to feel gross—you’re allowed to share your work and still stay rooted in your values.

• Ethical marketing is a process of unlearning and learning.

• You’ll make mistakes. I know I have. And I’ve learned from each one.

• Slow down, listen more, and build trust instead of chasing clicks.

🌿 Why Ethical Marketing Matters

There’s a reason we’re talking about this at LarkFlow Posse. We can flow despite—and because of—hardship, trauma, systems stacked against us. And as people committed to healing work, activism, and artistry, we know that how we market our work matters.

Marketing is often taught through a lens of urgency, shame, and manipulation. It's rooted in capitalism’s obsession with extraction: get as much as you can, as fast as you can.

But what if we slowed down? What if we invited people into our offerings with care instead of coercion?

That’s where ethical marketing comes in.

Okay, So What Is Ethical Marketing?

Ethical marketing is a relational practice. It’s how we share our work with the world in a way that’s transparent, values-driven, and respectful of people’s capacity, trauma, and agency.

It asks:

• Are we being clear and honest?

• Are we honoring people’s consent and capacity?

• Are we inviting, not pressuring?

• Are we being inclusive, not exploitative?

• Are we grounded in our values, even when we’re selling something?

Let’s be real: we’re all swimming in capitalism. But we can still choose to practice harm reduction in how we connect and share.

Two rocks with words. One reads, “I’m” and the other reads, “U”.

My Honest Reflection: I’ve Messed Up Too

Let me pause and say: I’m still learning.

There have been moments in my business where I sent one too many emails… where I spoke from scarcity instead of integrity… where I underpriced my work and overworked myself out of fear.

Ethical marketing isn’t about perfection. It’s about noticing, pausing, and realigning. It’s about accountability, not shame.

So if you’re reading this and feeling like, “Wow, I’ve been doing it all wrong”—you haven’t. You’ve been surviving. And now maybe… you’re ready to do it differently.

🛠️ Core Principles of Ethical Marketing

Here are some foundational guidelines that help me—and maybe they’ll help you too:

1. Informed Consent

Be clear about what people are signing up for. No tricking folks with freebies that turn into endless email funnels.

2. Transparency Over Pressure

Share real deadlines. Be honest about pricing. Don’t create fake urgency just to boost sales.

3. Empowerment-Based Language

Talk with your people, not at them. Avoid shaming language or "pain point" manipulation.

4. Accessibility

Are your offerings inclusive? Can people understand and engage with them easily, regardless of ability, identity, or background?

5. Values-Alignment

Stay rooted. Come back to your why. If a marketing strategy feels misaligned, pause and re-evaluate.

🌈 What Ethical Marketing Looks Like in Practice

Let’s get specific. Here’s how ethical marketing might show up in different businesses:

🎨 For Artists & Makers:

• Share your story and process—build connection, not pressure.

• Add image descriptions and alt-text to your posts.

• Be honest about how many items are available—don’t use scarcity unless it’s real.

• Offer multiple price points or sliding scale print editions.

🌿 For Wellness Practitioners:

• Avoid toxic positivity. Name the nuance. Not everyone has access to healing the same way.

• Use inclusive language that doesn’t assume cis/white/able-bodied experiences.

• Don’t overpromise transformation. People are not problems to fix.

For Coaches & Consultants:

• Be real about your credentials and lived experience.

• Avoid 6-figure hustle language if your work is about deep transformation.

• Respect boundaries—don’t push someone to book a call if they’re hesitant.

🪴 Ethical ≠ Perfect

Capitalism trains us to “scale fast,” to automate, to convert people. It tells us our value is in how many sales we close.

But the truth is: your value isn’t in your numbers—it’s in your impact, your integrity, and your care.

And yes, sometimes it does feel like there’s no truly ethical way to market. But just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying.

If you believe in what you’re offering… if it has the power to serve and heal… then you owe it to yourself and your people to find a way to share it that feels good in your body.

🔍A Quick Ethical Marketing Audit

Ask yourself:

1. Are my emails and posts empowering or fear-based?

2. Do my sales pages speak to transformation with integrity?

3. Am I making space for people to say "no" or "not yet"?

4. Where can I simplify or clarify my messaging?

5. Who is being centered in my content—and who’s being left out?

These questions aren’t about perfection. They’re about awareness.

🌐 Resources We Love

• The Ethical Move — A powerful starting point for honest, transparent marketing practices.

• Kelly Diels — A feminist marketing educator with incredible insight on power, culture, and business.

💬 Final Words

Ethical marketing is not a tactic. It’s a commitment.

It’s a promise that your work is worth sharing—but not at the cost of your soul. It’s a willingness to listen, unlearn, repair, and shift.

Your work deserves to be seen, and your community deserves to feel safe while engaging with it.

So let’s root down, move slower, and invite people into something deeper than conversion: connection.