Non-toxic copy: what is an ethical copywriter?
So if you didn’t already, (wbut you should), my whole thing is that I write non-toxic copy.
Specifically, I actually do non-toxic conversion copy.
I am very happy to say that in 2026 I think that this is becoming a trend and I’ve seen a real rise of people looking for non-toxic copy and ethical copywriters and people pushing back on sleazy manipulative marketing.
Just wanna say that I’ve been against it forever and I’ve always been the non-toxic copywriter.
There are so many reasons that toxic copywriting and toxic marketing suck, not just the fact that that’s unethical but also the fact that they do not lead to long-term sustainable business growth or conversions, but unfortunately some people still use it.
However, if you’re here, it’s likely that you are not interested in using toxic marketing and you would much rather use ethical copywriting and non-toxic copy. In this guide I’m gonna break down exactly what that looks like, exactly what it means and why you need it for your business.
Hi, I’m Elle…
Website Copywriter, Unapologetic Girls’ Girl, And (According To Clients) An “Absolute Dream.”
What Is “Non-Toxic Copy”?
So…what is non-toxic copy?
Okay, so the thing I’m gonna say is – I can’t prove this because I don’t have access to the entire internet, so I might be wrong – but I may, maybe, have to claim this title because I have never seen somebody else say this before anywhere ever except for me.
Essentially non-toxic copy is ethical copywriting or is copywriting that pushes back on any sort of sleazy unethical marketing.
So what does manipulative and sleazy marketing look like? For me it is anything that involves shaming somebody into buying something, tricking somebody into buying something, bullying somebody into buying something, intentionally making your audience feel bad in order to get them to buy from you, telling lies, being dishonest.
And I’m sure that you know exactly the kind of marketing that I’m talking about. It is the marketing that preys on people’s insecurities or fears and uses negative emotions to manipulate people into sales or interaction. Some people call this bro marketing.
So on the flip side, non-toxic copy never ever uses those practices. With non-toxic copy and ethical copywriting, we use persuasive techniques that educate people and meet them where they are to bring them to a decision.
So rather than trying to trick or manipulate people into making a purchasing decision, I use data to really understand the audience that I’m talking to and make sure that I’m only talking to the right audience at the right time and making convincing people to make decisions that are correct for them at the right time.
So for example, I wouldn’t try and manipulate people who don’t have enough money into buying a high ticket offer. I would instead find out who can afford that high ticket offer and use language that speaks directly to them.
Through non-toxic copy we empower audiences to make buying decisions that are beneficial to them and that will genuinely help their life by educating them a lot about the products, explaining exactly how it works and speaking to the right audience and empowering them to make those decisions. We always want to avoid making buying decisions or taking action and there’s a lot of reasons behind this, not only does it make people feel good and I don’t wanna be an arsehole but it also in the long run will often lead to business growth.
I’m also an ambassador for romanticizing business and making it fun, an expert in non-toxic conversion copy, a Miranda Priestley apologist, and my actual job description should really be ‘matchmaker for you and your dream clients“
If you liked reading this blog post – I would love to hang out more with you 🙂
And these, IMO, are the best ways for us to that:
The Problem(s) With Sleazy Marketing
So what is the main problem with manipulative marketing? Apart from the fact that it sucks and it’s gross and not everybody hates it, it actually can have a really damaging long-term impact on your business.
Overhyped claims or promising people things that are not actually true will lead to negative reviews. It will lead to people not buying from you again. It will potentially lead to lawsuits and lots of negative word of mouth.
False urgency or scarcity means that people won’t trust you next time that you sell a product or launch.
Using fear-based messaging that exploits insecurities teaches your audience to associate you with fear and negativity and negative emotions instead of having a positive and healthy relationship with you.
And this is why a lot of people who use very manipulative marketing do not have return clients. They use a lot of pressure to try and trick gullible or new people into sales and they have an insane level of turnover, which is very stressful to run as a business and it’s not sustainable at all.
I know for a fact that if I’ve had a bad experience with a business or a company, I will never ever buy from them again. On the flip side, I’ve worked with service providers or stores where I’ve had one good experience and I am loyal for the rest of my life because of how transparent they were and how respectful they were with me and how kind they were at every single stage of the process.
The biggest benefit of non-toxic copy is you are focusing on sustainable long-term growth for your business and for your audience. When you are empowering the right people to buy a product or a service that is right for them and that is actually going to help them, they are way more likely to recommend you, come back to you again, share your products, give word-of-mouth, and in the long run that will help build your business. These get-rich-quick tactics work once and are one-hit wonders and cause more trouble than they are worth.
What Makes a Copywriter “Ethical”?
Apart from being kind and wanting to empower audiences, there are specific rules ethical copywriters follow and that non-toxic copywriting is based around.
So honesty over hype: ethical copywriters will always use clear and accurate representation of an outcome or a transformation. They will not overpromise something that’s completely impossible or just flat-out lie about a product. They will instead work with what they have to make the truth sound really good and present it to the right people.
Ethical copywriters also have respect for the audience so they don’t use manipulation or fear, shame or insecurity. They actually use empathy to lead the copy. They always focus on meeting the customer or the audience exactly where they are, empathising with their situation, sharing with them how it isn’t their fault that they’re in the situation, and then helping them understand that there can be a solution to it.
They also use transparency and they’re very honest about what somebody is getting, what they’re not getting, whether something is right for someone or not right for them, and that kind of thing.
And they focus on long-term trust over short-term conversions. They think about the relationship over immediate sales.
Can Copy Still Convert Without “Toxic” Tactics?
So a question that people might have is whether or not copy will convert as well without toxic traits. Yes, 100%, because I personally don’t think that copy is actually converting super well if it is really toxic, and it is a forced example of high-converting copy.
Being a good copywriter requires skill. Being a “sleazy” copywriter doesn’t require skill. A lot of really sleazy copywriters will focus on rage bait or shock factors and then brag about how they’re doing a great job. That isn’t a great job because children can do that-children literally use rage bait.
A non-toxic copywriter can 100% convert just as well as a toxic copywriter, but they also won’t make you embarrassed to run your own business.
So by using data and really going in depth to understand the audience, and being really clear on brand messaging, and then using empathy to have a really strong emotional connection with the audience, a non-toxic copywriter can get even better results potentially than a toxic copywriter.
Instead of getting rich quick or trying to focus on quick wins, non-toxic copy gets conversions by building a loyal following of people who love you and love your business, which is more valuable in the long term and can also be very helpful in the short term if done correctly.
One of the big issues with manipulative or toxic copywriting and marketing is that a lot of people don’t want to, or quite honestly do not have the skill to do the research that is required to do ethical copywriting. They don’t want to do the brand messaging, they don’t want to dive deep into the story of the audience, so instead they use the sleazy toxic strategies to get quick wins or to try and trick people into doing things because they don’t want to do the hard work that goes into getting conversions through good copy.
But if you do the hard work and actually do your job as a copywriter, which includes that brand messaging and that research, non-toxic copy can 100% be just as valuable.
Practical Ways to Write Non-Toxic Copy
So if you’re someone who’s thinking about writing your own copy and you’re trying to figure out how you can make sure that your copy is non-toxic or ethical, here are some ways to make sure you are staying on the ethical side of things.
Avoid exaggeration you can’t back up.
Don’t lie, like honestly just don’t lie. Like if something isn’t true and you wouldn’t say it in real life, don’t say it in your copy.
There are always ways for you to make something sound good or make an outcome sound great without having to lie about it.
If you can’t back up a claim, find a different way to say it or say something different.
Use Real Social Proof
Honest testimonials, no fabrication.
This should go without saying, but just in case you needed to hear it, do not use fake social proof.
You should only use real testimonials, real certifications, or real awards.
Never ever ever make these up or lie, because it’s also illegal as well as being unethical.
Be Honest About Who A Service/ Product Is For
It is so much better to be honest about whether a product is right for somebody or whether or not it isn’t than for you to say that somebody can use a product and then have them have a bad experience or leave a bad review.
People will appreciate if you’re very honest with them about whether or not something is the right fit for them or not, or whether or not they’re gonna get what they need from something, and your honesty is more likely to turn them into a future customer than lying to them is.
Don’t Pressure Or Manipulate People
Be respectful and speak to readers with empathy.
You should not be talking down to your audience, making them feel bad about themselves, making judgements about them, bullying them, and saying mean things in order to try and get them to buy from you.
So an example is if you were a dietician you should not be shaming people’s bodies to try and get them to work with you.
You should be trying to empower people who are interested in improving their health to come and speak to you by talking about your high-quality education or your program or explaining how well you could help someone in that situation.
You should also replace pressuring people to make a decision with encouraging or inviting people to make a decision.
And that’s not to say that you can’t ever tell people like, you know, if you want to buy this you have until now to do it if that is true.
But saying something like “buy now or regret it FOREVER”, or aggressive language like that feels toxic.
Where they’re saying stuff like, you know, this offer is gonna last for 24 hours. I have this many spaces left, if you’re interested you can book the space here.
The Business Case for Ethical Copy
So I’ve said this a few times and I cannot stress it enough: businesses grow better with ethical marketing.
I want you to think about companies that you really like and companies that you really hate and think about how those companies make you feel and the experiences that you’ve had with companies.
Or even think about companies that you are thinking about leaving and companies that you want to stay with and why-why do you feel like that?
If you are an ethical business, you are more likely to keep customers long-term and bring strong word of mouth.
If you are an unethical business, you are way less likely to keep getting clients and people are often going to leave.
By being an ethical business and using non-toxic marketing, you build trust and loyalty, you reduce complaints, refunds and bad word of mouth, and you also attract aligned customers because the right customers are referred to you by other people.
Debunking Misconceptions
Okay, so I just wanna counter a few misconceptions people have about ethical copy or non-toxic copy to put your mind at peace.
"Ethical copy is weak or passive"
It’s not.
You’re still being assertive and you’re still asking for sales.
And if you look at my copy, I put CTAs in most of my blog posts – I will talk about my offers often on social media.
I’m pretty confident in how I write my copy on my website but I also don’t want to manipulate people and try and trick people into a sale by telling them that like their business will fail overnight if they don’t have a website. I just don’t.
You don’t have to be weak or passive to be ethical. You can still be confident, you just aren’t being an arsehole.
You can’t sell without urgency"
You definitely can sell without urgency, especially if your offer is good. There’s a lot of other ways that you can sell, including having really strong social proof, having really great word of mouth, having just a really really good product that people can’t get enough of.
I’m not saying you can’t ever use urgency because sometimes you can and sometimes it doesn’t make sense and sometimes it’s okay to use urgency. It’s just not okay to use fake urgency.
"It means avoiding persuasion"
You are 100% still gonna be using persuasion, you’re just persuading with empathy instead of persuading with fear or bullying or shaming. So me understanding that somebody might be ready for me to write their website copy because they are tired of trying to rewrite it themselves and they just don’t have the time is very different to me telling somebody why they should hire me because they’re a terrible writer.
I would never hire somebody who said the second thing to me and it doesn’t, you know, that’s not persuasive-but that is what toxic copy looks like.
In Conclusion: Ethical Copywriters Are The Best
While it may seem like the main reason to use non-toxic copy or ethical copywriting is so that you don’t feel weird about selling, you don’t feel guilty, and you feel general about being a business confident about promoting your business, the real benefit is that you will have a stronger more sustainable business in a long time and you will have more loyal customers and hopefully be successful for longer.
There can sometimes be this idea that ethical copywriting is weaker or for people who don’t want to hustle but at the end of the day it’s a business strategy to have a more sustainable business and to grow your business easier with a nice problems and less hiccups.
And it is actually more work because you have to do the brand messaging and re-understand your audience to be successful but when you get it right, you’ll feel so much better about being a business owner and it makes you feel so much more confident about showing up online and marketing your business because you feel good about everything that you’re saying and you don’t feel sleazy or gross and that’s a benefit.
If you are interested in working with a non-toxic copywriter then hi that’s me I’m an ethical copywriter that specializes in website copy and brand messaging and I exclusively rewrite non-toxic copy for business owners who want to feel good while selling and converting and growing a sustainable business in a long time.
The Hot Gossip, The 411
More from The Blog
If you loved this post, and you want to get the 411 on more things copy and marketing – here’s your next read, all lined up.
Hi, I’m Elle
Website Copywriter, Unapologetic Girls’ Girl, And (According To Clients) An “Absolute Dream.”
I’m also an ambassador for romanticizing business and making it fun, an expert in non-toxic conversion copy, a Miranda Priestley apologist, and voted most likely to over-deliver and overshare.
But — you know what else I am?
A girl who’s tired of seeing talented, creative women settling for mediocre copy and generic branding because they think they have to do it all themselves, or they’re waiting for permission to step into their It Girl era and become the hot brand they’re supposed to be.
Which is why I’d love for you to finally get copy that reflects your full potential — even if you can’t quite yet put that into words.
