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Ethical Concerns for Writing Advertising Copy

an entrepreneur sitting by his desk correcting his ad copy on a notepad while entering the text copy on his laptop
Whenever you plan to write ad copy, remember that there are certain ethical rules that you should keep in mind. Your customers cannot walk into your store and inspect your product; they place an order online hoping the product will be what they expect and will arrive within a reasonable time.

Most online businesses recognize that maintaining happy customers who will order repeatedly is their best method for their success.

When you write advertising copy, make sure your offer is perfectly clear. Check the following areas for possible misunderstanding:

  • Exactly what product or service is being offered
  • Specifications of the product or service
  • Price, including shipping, handling, and tax
  • Terms of payment
  • Delivery date
  • Return policy and guarantee

Can you back up any claims you make in your offer? Can you make the same claims to close friends and family?

If you make a claim that your price is half of your original when you have never made any sales at the original price, you’re not being truthful about your claim. You also run the risk of having to face federal regulators as well as your customers. FTC rules state that your bargain price must be a reduction from an original price within a specific period of time.

You must tell what is the original price is or the difference must be substantial. You can get in trouble for misleading and misrepresenting information presented as fact.

Never give prospects false reasons for buying now. If you have no plans to raise prices, avoid saying the prices will go up soon. If you have enough quantities of a product, don’t say quantities are limited unless there is some basis to your claim. If they must make a purchase to get a free item, state this clearly.

Don’t say your product is brand new when all you have done is redesigned the package. For a product to be new there must be a significant change. In general, the maximum time period during which a product can be marketed as new is six months.

All orders must be shipped within 30 days of receiving the order shipped promptly within 48 hours of receipt. If you cannot meet the deadline, you must have to state in your offer when the order will be shipped. If you cannot meet the deadline as specified in your offer, you must contact your customer and give the reason and a new date for expected shipment and provide the option for refund if the customer is not happy with the new shipping date.

You should always provide some type of guarantee if the customer isn’t totally satisfied. If you want time limits or any constraints on your guarantee, make sure to clearly state that in writing.

You should always try to be totally honest with your offer and give more than what customer pays for. Repeat order is the foundation of any successful business and customer satisfaction should always remain as your number-one priority.

By Paul Ziglar – 2019 – Update 2020
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For additional articles written by Paul Ziglar, see alliedpublishing.com/copywriting. Paul Ziglar is the author of How to Write Successful Advertising Copy That Make Money published in 2019.

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