{"id":418,"date":"2015-09-07T00:17:24","date_gmt":"2015-09-07T00:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ftcguardian.com\/articles\/?p=418"},"modified":"2017-03-17T05:51:51","modified_gmt":"2017-03-17T05:51:51","slug":"top-5-solutions-for-new-ftc-guidelines-for-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ftcguardian.com\/articles\/top-5-solutions-for-new-ftc-guidelines-for-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Solutions for New FTC Guidelines for Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New FTC Guidelines for Promoting Products on Social Media & Top 5 Solutions<\/h1>\n

Without even knowing it, you may be in violation with the FTC due to using unfair competition practices and\/or deceptive acts or practices via your social media! Here is the scoop and some highly suggested solutions so that you remain in compliance.<\/p>\n

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One of the FTC\u2019s main concerns is that consumers may be misguided into believing that an endorsement is the honest opinion of an endorser when in actuality there is a relationship between an endorser and a company and\/or marketer. If relationship exists or an agreement has been made, the FTC requires that the endorser disclose this information.<\/p>\n

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In some forms of social media such as Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, there is a limited amount of space in which one can post something, which makes disclosing this information more difficult. Further, the FTC has not mandated the specific wording of disclosures. However, it advises that inserting short statements such as \u201c#sponsored\u201d, \u201c#promotion\u201d, \u201cpaid ad\u201d or even \u201cad,\u201d may be enough to disclose a connection between the endorser and company.<\/p>\n

Thus, while it certainly takes away from their organic publicity, companies should make an effort to advise their endorsers that they must disclose their relationship or if they received a particular item from the company or its marketing firm. Particular hash-tags such as \u201c#sponsored\u201d can be used, or even perhaps much more obvious hash-tags such as \u201cProvidedToMeBy[insertcompanyname]forfree\u201d.<\/p>\n

As a company, here are some best-practice\u00a0suggestions to use when delving into social media if you would like to avoid possible attention from the FTC:<\/p>\n

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  1. Educate and instruct endorsers of the guidelines above.<\/li>\n
  2. Make periodic attempts to search for what is said and if there is a problem, follow-up on it.<\/li>\n
  3. Make a concerted effort to expressly communicate to endorsers that they must adequately disclose the relationship to consumers.<\/li>\n
  4. Monitor posts.<\/li>\n
  5. If you re-tweet, re-gram, or re-pin an endorsed post, you need to also disclose the relationship.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

    via New FTC Guidelines for Promoting Products on Social Media<\/a><\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s How To Make Sure You,<\/span>
    \n<\/span>Your Business & Website Is FTC Compliant<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

    By now it should be clear how important it is for you to be FTC compliant. But how can you do that without spending $7,500-$8,000 or more on Internet Attorneys?<\/span><\/p>\n

    Smart business owners around the world are doing it with the help of <\/span>FTC Guardian<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    FTC Guardian is a service that is 100% focused on helping to keep you get and stay FTC compliant and fully protected. And right now, we are offering a free training to give you the knowledge, information, and guidance that you need to stay out of trouble with the Federal Trade Commission.<\/a><\/p>\n

    The training is titled: 3 Tragic (Legal) Privacy Policy List Building Mistakes That Can Get You In Hot Water With The FTC Today – Resulting In Your Business Being Shut Down… And How To Solve It!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

    Here are some of the things you\u2019ll discover on the training:<\/span><\/p>\n