The digital age has made it much easier for companies to reach out to their customers. From identifying their buying behaviour to the responses they provide to your content, everything is easy to track and now paves the way for fine-tuning your marketing strategy. A responsible business is not one that offers the desired product or service to its target audience but one that wins the trust of its users.

A responsible entrepreneur knows their values and beliefs and ethical ways to align their marketing strategy with them. For instance, if you promise to be sustainable, you should actually put in effort to fulfil your promises. Greenwashing is not recommended. People are smart enough to see through your lies. They will feel cheated and betrayed, and, as a result, they will leave you for your competitors.

Transparency is the first thing that counts when the audience considers you as a responsible business. How honest you are while explaining the features of your products to your audience matters the most. A business is called responsible when it is completely honest with its customers about pricing and product details.

Ways to become a responsible business in a digital age

Here are the ways to become a responsible business in a digital age:

• Protect the privacy of your customers

To track your audience’s buying behaviour, you need their demographic details. They are normally stored on your server. Although you are not going to use it for any purpose other than tracking their buying behaviour, there is always a risk of the data being purloined.

Cybercriminals use modern and advanced methods to steal data. It might have negative consequences for customers if their personal information is hacked. Unfortunately, the impact will be on your business too. Your reputation will be tarnished. Your customers will lose trust in you, and they will choose your competitors.

As a responsible business, it is your accountability to ensure that the data of your customers remain safe. Cybercriminals can misuse the personal data of your target customers. They can pull all the money from their accounts. You can lower the risk of data theft by increasing security standards.

Many companies require their customers to add their card details to make a purchase and promise that they will not be saved, but the fact is that those details get saved. Companies often lie about that. It is crucial you do not save those details. Their account details will not help you track their buying behaviour. If you still do so, make sure you keep your customers in the loop.

Your customers have the full right to know what you are about to do with their details. Disclose everything on the “terms and conditions” page; however, disclosure cannot help you escape from your responsibility. You should ensure that you keep your customers’ data secure and private. Cybercriminals should not be able to hack into your server to steal your customers’ data.

• Be honest

Honesty is vital to make your business successful. You should be completely transparent about your products’ specifications. Most of the time, companies give false information to allure customers. This trick can help you in the short run, but when it leaves a tasty taste in their mouth, they will never be willing to buy your product.

Customers are more willing to buy from businesses which do not deceive them. You will see repeated purchases only when your product does what it promises to do. You may think that complete honesty is not a solution because you will have to overhype the features of your products to get as many customers as possible.

You cannot do it if you are providing financial products such as loans without a guarantor and bad credit. Many direct lenders often hide annual rates, and if they disclose, they are much less than the actual rates. They even lie about the processing fees. Your responsibility is greater when you are in a lending business.

You should reveal all fees and charges so your borrowers do not get shocked. Make sure you carefully check their affordability while lending money. Admit that you run a hard credit check if you do to know their past payment behaviour. Revealing true information will help you get more business.

There should be no place for false and misguided information. A responsible business knows ethics and always follows them.

• Take care of your employees

You cannot be called a responsible business if you do not take care of your employees. Customers are important undoubtedly, but at the same time, you need to think about your employees, who are the real assets of your company. Your employees should be given onboard training so they understand your core values. Your customers are to interact with your employees, so they must be able to deliver the right message to your audience.

Do not hide anything from them, especially things that have a direct impact on their marketing strategy. You should keep them in the loop about any strategic changes because if they come to know about it from outside, it will affect their productivity.

You should also try to provide your employees with benefits such as medical insurance, workplace pension, sick leaves, casual leaves and the like. Ask your employees to come forward and share their grievances with you. You should have an ear of sympathy to understand what they expect you of.

For instance, you might need to invest in advanced software to help them better track the shopping behaviour of your customers. Of course, you will have to invest money in them. If you do not have money at all, you can take out joint loans for bad credit. Because a co-applicant will be applying for a business loan along with you, you will find interest rates much more affordable. Lower interest rates lower the chances of falling into debt.

• Resolve society issues

Companies need to understand their corporate social responsibility. They can grow down the line only if they identify society’s challenges and come up with a strategy to address them. For instance, customers are concerned about soaring levels of pollution nowadays. As a responsible company, you should find ways for eco-friendly packaging. Plastic should not be used. Switch your business from traditional packaging to eco-friendly packaging.

The bottom line

The first step you need to take to become a responsible business is to stop doing all activities that have a negative impact on society. You need to rethink about your business model to ensure that your actions are more sustainable.

When people see you strive to contribute to the welfare of society, sales will multiply. Alongside, you need to be honest with your customers as well. Do not ask prices and hide things that shatter the trust of your users. Add to that, you should also take care of your employees because they are the greatest assets of your company. Everything should be balanced to become a responsible business.