Open The Dialogue

I was speaking with another public relations professional the other day and he asked me what I thought was important for companies to know about being involved in social media. I rattled off the usual pieces of advice, like listening and being proactive with engagement, but I also said that companies need to be patient.

In general, I think companies have grown used to an idea that a hit in the New York Times or Oprah can radically change the ROI, but that’s not necessarily true for social media. Social media, while very fast in nature, can take time when it comes to building relationships and trust. You can create a Twitter account in less than a minute, and you can follow a hundred people in about 10 minutes, but does that mean you’ll become the next Ashton Kutcher? A blogger, Twitter or Facebook campaign can lead to a lot of eyeballs on your pages, but the true test of a successful social media campaign is how many people came back? A company may launch a Facebook page, but getting fans can take time because there’s more follow-through required.

Patience is key when evaluating your social media program. Many clients may get frustrated that they aren’t getting hundreds of followers or fans every day. It’s important to keep working on new, innovative ways to give fans something to do, something to read, a way to interact with the brand that shows them why they should take the time to get involved with a brand. Then, be patient.

Managing Facebook Groups

Here are some essential tips from Mashable on managing a Facebook groups for clients.  Some top recommendations include making the group open and public, filling out all information fields, and so on.

Organizational use of Social Media

Deloitte released a new study on organizational use of social media.  Of note, 32% of respondents (organizations) are lurkers – “people who observe the community, but don’t participate in the discussion.”

Social Media and Health Information

Study says 80 million people use social media for health and medical information.  According to the study, “user-generated content is an influential resource for therapeutic segments, suggesting social media is more of a priority for some brands than others.”

We’ve seen lots of coverage in the past few days around the new FTC guidelines around endorsements, specifically about the impact this will have on blogger and “influencer” relations when it comes to social media and WOM marketing.  The guidelines address a range of potential endorsers, besides bloggers, including:

• “Network Marketers”: the guidelines state that “participants in network marketing programs are also likely to be deemed to have material connection that warrant disclosure.”  So if you are a BuzzAgent or a brand working with a similar program, disclosure and liability guidelines apply as they do to bloggers.
• Celebrities are considered liable for comments they make in advertisements – but importantly for PR people – also for what they say in editorial content.  So celebrities being paid to talk about a product on a talk show, will be required to disclose their relationship with the brand.
• Employees: disclosure is required when employees of a company comment publicly about a product or service (the Guidelines use the example of a message board post).  What was previously best practices, seems now to be a requirement, making employee policies and guidelines even more important.

At the end of the day, the guidelines require that endorsers 1) disclose their relationship with marketers and advertisers, and 2) are accountable for the truth and accuracy of their comments.  This presents some basic considerations for us as marketers.  Although disclosure about compensation is certainly not a new issue in the marketing world, there is now an added (financial) incentive to ensure that this is done consistently and ethically.  The basics:

• Proactive Disclosure: Individuals who receive compensation (money/free product) in exchange for talking about personal experiences need to clearly and consistently disclose their relationship with the marketer (on the web, this should be done each time a new reference is made).  It also means that as a marketer, we are responsible for setting up disclosure expectations for the programs we run – including include the proper way to disclose within the context of a blog as well as in 140 characters, or as part of a YouTube video.
• Guidelines and Recommendations: Especially with network marketing programs, when “endorsers” don’t necessarily consider themselves marketers, setting up recommended disclosure language and the parameters for reviews and endorsements will be important  (i.e. stick to your personal experiences rather than making broad-generalizations about a product, be honest, etc.).  In the same way, guidelines for employees who are talking about their companies’ products or services will be important too.
• Monitoring: Part of the guidelines states that “if the advertiser initiated the process that led to these endorsements being made … it potentially is liable for misleading statements made by those consumers.” With that in mind, it is not enough to simply disseminate free product and close your ears (not that this is advisable anyway).  Brands will be responsible for tracking mentions and reviews by these influencers and potentially reaching out to correct or clarify mis-information.

All in all, these are best practices brands should be following anyway – and these guidelines are a step in the right direction.  We’re following along as brands and marketers adopt these new guidelines, and will be tracking new developments as they come.

As we reported on Monday, the Federal Trade Commission updated their compliance guidelines for the FTC Act, the first such update in 29 years.  While the changes do affect a few outdated rules the main goal of the document was to cleanly define what bloggers can and can’t do online.  The guidelines state:

The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.

The need for these rules is clear and somewhat past due. As marketing becomes more conversation oriented, we need to protect consumers from unfair and unethical claims.  It is why we believe in transparency and the Blog with Integrity movement. Unfortunately I’m hesitant to embrace the guidelines as fully as blogs like Mashable have done. Specifically, I’m having trouble with three big issues:

1. Scope- The term blogger is being used very loosely here.  Under these guidelines blogs, Twitter, even Facebook fan pages could be under the discretion of the FTC. While I understand the need to tackle many web properties at once (since updates are infrequent), I don’t know if the best way to lump everyone in together.  Considering that anything that is considered a “material connection” could be scrutinized, how is everyone supposed to comply? How many people even know about these guidelines in the first place? And where do rating sites like Amazon or Yelp fit into all of this?
2. A Double Standard? –  Why are bloggers being singled out? As Jeff Jarvis points out, “The FTC also concedes that it treats critics at publications differently – less stringently – than bloggers.” Most bloggers don’t consider themselves journalists and don’t make their living reviewing things like some journalists do, but why compound the point and have two sets of rules. It just doesn’t make sense.
3. Enforcement- Eleven thousand dollars is a lot of money to most people and makes it seem like the FTC might be the “new” RIAA. Some fines will be covered by brands, but considering that these fines will be judged on a “case by case” basis, it is hard to guess where the first strike will land. Will a Twitter mention receive the same discretion as a blog post? Will the little guy get hit with large fines as much as the big fish?   With the FTC ‘s Richard Cleland telling book blogs to return books after reviews, how much will people need to disclose to avoid a potential fine? As much as this guy?

I think that the new guidelines are clearly a step in the right direction. With some additional edits and clarifications, this document could protect many consumers without hurting the online conversation.  However considering that this is the first update in almost 30 years, I think that the FTC should re-evaluate how their perception on how social media works.  Who knows maybe at the next update in 2038, we will see some real progress!

What do you think of the recent guidelines? Will it change how you blog?

Photo Courtsey of Robyn Gallagher.

For the first time since 1980, the Federal Trade Commission  has updated its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising when it was announced today that new guidelines on properly disclosing when bloggers  are being paid to review and endorse products. Failure to adhere to these new guidelines and rules will result in  fines up to $11,000 per post.

As mentioned previously here on OTD, ethics, endorsements and disclosure has been a hot button topic for some time now and we are finally moving towards having  this standardized set of rules when it comes to disclosing brand involvement and compensation. Communication professionals  and bloggers alike have been mentioned previously here on OTD, ethics, endorsements and disclosure has been a hot button topic for some time now and we are finally moving towards having  this standardized set of rules when it comes to disclosing brand involvement and compensation. Communication professionals  and bloggers alike have been taking measures and declaring publicly that a change needs to be made to combat these deceptive practices.

Hopefully an $11,000 price tag will help promote more positive and ethical behavior among the industry.