social media outreach

Facebook’s new contest rules and FTC guidelines – has social media marketing adapted?

January 5, 2010 by Susan Getgood

Warning – long post

Are social media marketers implementing the new Facebook contest rules and meeting their obligations under FTC guidelines? Survey sez: maybe not, or at least, not yet.

Background

Social media marketing. A bit like the wild west of our imaginations — a little bit glamorous, a little bit dangerous, and as practiced by some, perhaps just a little bit dirty.

At the end of 2009, however, the Sheriff came to town. Or at least a few parts of it. Facebook’s new rules for contests and sweepstakes were announced in November and updated in December. The revised FTC guidelines for endorsements and testimonials went into effect on December 1.

The landscape is bound to change. In fact, strictly speaking, it should have already. Marketers had plenty of warning about the proposed changes to the FTC guidelines, and their responsibilities under them.

The Facebook changes were more of a surprise but they seem fairly straightforward (and a revenue boon to third-party app developers) although there was a great deal of confusion about whether you could require someone to be a fan to enter a contest. The answer BTW is yes, although you cannot have the action of becoming a fan equal an automatic entry in the contest or sweepstakes. There must be an explicit entry form, and there are very specific rules governing how you can administer the contest on Facebook.

I wondered.

Were marketers informing bloggers of the obligation to disclose when they offered free stuff? The evidence, including that in my own inbox, indicated: not so much. Every so often, I would hear of efforts like Procter & Gamble’s for its Vocalpoint program. They sent an email informing community members of the FTC requirements and telling them how P&G would support them. Not surprising perhaps, given that P&G’s programs and products were cited in more than one news story about the guidelines, but still smart and commendable.

By and large though, it seemed the offers were still coming without any information about the FTC requirements.

On the Facebook front, on Christmas, an email from Lands’ End promoted a contest that one could enter simply by becoming a fan on Facebook. Oops.

Now, I adore Lands’ End, and think their marketing is top notch. If a big brand could make such an error, what about the smaller ones on Facebook? Not to mention all the bloggers who had been running contests to build their fan bases.

It seemed to me that perhaps marketers hadn’t got the message yet. So I decided to do a survey.

Disclaimer: In no way does this survey purport to be scientific or definitive. I just wanted to get a better idea of what was going on in these two areas, and figured a survey would give me access to far more data points that conversations and Twitter chat. It was promoted to my Twitter and Facebook friends and here on the blog, and to Blog with Integrity’s fans, followers and email subscribers. Friends and colleagues kindly retweeted and emailed the link as well. The survey was published on December 27th and closed this morning, January 4th.

Survey Says

Here are the raw results with a little bit of analysis. Later, I am going to do some cross-tabs and other fancy stuff that SurveyMonkey lets you do when you have to buy a paid account because your responses exceed the 100 you can get with the free account. But not today.

Started the survey: 243
Completed the survey: 198 (81.5%)

One to 10 pitches per week was reported by more than half the respondents. The answers to the next two questions were equally compelling. Seventy-percent (70.2%) reported that the number of pitches they receive on average every week had stayed the same since December 1 when the FTC guidelines went into effect, and 63.7% reported that pitches since December 1 contained offers for free products, review products or other compensation.

Seems like business as usual. Time for the money question: Thinking about the pitches you’ve received since December 1 2009 that offered free products or other compensation, *generally speaking* how many have contained guidance or information about a blogger’s obligation to disclose his/her relationship with the company?

It’s cut off in the chart but that orange bar in position one represents nearly 50% reporting that NONE of the pitches contained any information about the obligation to disclose. One of the comments in “other” states that this information did come after the blogger had accepted the offer. Fair enough, but in my opinion, that isn’t soon enough. If we are offering free products or other compensation, we need to state the terms of the deal clearly and up front.

Moving on to Facebook. I asked how often the respondent used Facebook and if they had recently entered any contests.

There are a few interesting things here:

Most respondents would be classed as fairly or very active users of Facebook.
The majority of respondents hadn’t recently entered any contests. Is this because fewer contests are now held “on the wall,” they are being held somewhere else (Twitter?), the holidays or some other reason? Questions for a future survey.
37.1 % entered by becoming a fan of the page, which is a violation of the new rules.
Clearly some companies are beginning to implement the new rules, or at least holding their contests appropriately by accident, with 40 respondents indicating that they entered a contest in a way sanctioned by the new rules.

Demographics

Does this survey prove anything? Yes and no.

No, because it didn’t use a rigorous model. I’d like a more even representation of the blogosphere than “folks who know Susan, Blog with Integrity or Susan’s colleagues,” and I wish I had done a better job on the list of primary topics for the primary blog. If I do another survey, I’ll dig into what people replied for ‘Other’ to make sure I cover more categories.

On the other hand, nearly 200 responses isn’t too shabby. Bottom line, I think these results are a good place to start our exploration of how well — or not — companies are implementing these new rules.

Because like it or not, once the law shows up in town, you gotta live by the rules.

Impact of potential new FTC endorsement guidelines on companies

May 20, 2009 by Susan Getgood

Yesterday, I gave you my take on how the potential new FTC guidelines for endorsements and testimonials might impact bloggers. Today we are going to look at the potential impact on companies.

A couple of things to keep in mind:

The guidelines outline how the FTC intends to enforce the laws governing endorsements and testimonials in commercial speech. They are meant to be used as an aid to compliance. The new bit is that they are clearly extending the definition of commercial speech into certain social media activities.
The FTC is still working on these new guidelines, but has said they’ll be out this summer. The new guidelines could change a little or a lot from what it outlined in the call for comments I reviewed, based on the comments received, lobbying and so on. I’m betting a little, but I could be wrong. Been known to happen.

How might companies change/have to change their blogger relations programs and practices to comply with the guidelines?

First, let’s review the three examples related to blogs. The citations are the direct quotes from the document; headlines and emphasis mine. Please note, I’ve changed the emphasis from yesterday’s post. It now reflects the impact on the company. Also, be aware that there is a fourth example specifically related to in-person word-of-mouth marketing, “street teams,” such as the work done by firms like BzzAgent. That’s not my area of expertise, so I’ll leave that one to WOMMA.

Number one: Liability for false statements in a sponsored post.

“Example 5: A skin care products advertiser participates in a blog advertising service. The service matches up advertisers with bloggers who will promote the advertiser’s products on their personal blogs. The advertiser requests that a blogger try a new body lotion and write a review of the product on her blog. Although the advertiser does not make any specific claims about the lotion’s ability to cure skin conditions and the blogger does not ask the advertiser whether there is substantiation for the claim, in her review the blogger writes that the lotion cures eczema and recommends the product to her blog readers who suffer from this condition. The advertiser is subject to liability for false or unsubstantiated statements made through the blogger’s endorsement. The blogger also is subject to liability for representations made in the course of her endorsement. The blogger is also liable if she fails to disclose clearly and conspicuously that she is being paid for her services. [See § 255.5.]

In order to limit its potential liability, the advertiser should ensure that the advertising service provides guidance and training to its bloggers concerning the need to ensure that statements they make are truthful and substantiated. The advertiser should also monitor bloggers who are being paid to promote its products and take steps necessary to halt the continued publication of deceptive representations when they are discovered.”

Number two: Disclosure of receipt of free product

“Example 7: A college student who has earned a reputation as a video game expert maintains a personal weblog or “blog” where he posts entries about his gaming experiences. Readers of his blog frequently seek his opinions about video game hardware and software. As it has done in the past, the manufacturer of a newly released video game system sends the student a free copy of the system and asks him to write about it on his blog. He tests the new gaming system and writes a favorable review. The readers of his blog are unlikely to expect that he has received the video game system free of charge in exchange for his review of the product, and given the value of the video game system, this fact would likely materially affect the credibility they attach to his endorsement. Accordingly, the blogger should clearly and conspicuously disclose that he received the gaming system free of charge.”

Number three: Anti-astroturfing. Requires disclosure of material interest when making an endorsement.

“Example 8: An online message board designated for discussions of new music download technology is frequented by MP3 player enthusiasts. They exchange information about new products, utilities, and the functionality of numerous playback devices. Unbeknownst to the message board community, an employee of a leading playback device manufacturer has been posting messages on the discussion board promoting the manufacturer’s product. Knowledge of this poster’s employment likely would affect the weight or credibility of her endorsement. Therefore, the poster should clearly and conspicuously disclose her relationship to the manufacturer to members and readers of the message board.”

Sponsored Posts/Blogs

There are a few flavors of sponsorship. The company might pay the the blogger directly for a post or as an advertising sponsor of the blog, it might pay a blog network like BlogHer for access to its members or it might work with a sponsored post company like Izea.

In the first case, when the company works directly with a blogger, for example by sponsoring a specific post or even the blog as an advertising sponsor, the relationship should be governed by an advertising contract that outlines the responsibilities of the parties, and the nature of the relationship clearly disclosed on the blog. This is just smart business for both sides.

If, however, the company is not working directly with the blogger and instead is working through an intermediary, described in the FTC doc as a blog advertising service, the company needs to perform an additional level of due diligence. It needs to be sure that the advertising service is providing guidance and training to its bloggers, and if free product or services are provided, requiring disclosure of the commercial relationship.

Note that there is no requirement that the blogger be receiving a payment. Or even free product. If a company uses a blog network to reach out, is paying the blog network for the access to its members, that seems to be sufficient for liability for false statements.

What kind of policy should you look for in a blog advertising network or sponsored post firm? A good example is BlogHer. It has done a nice job navigating this minefield. The blog network you use may not have exactly the same policies, which is fine, but you want it to have at least paid as much attention to its own policy. To understand and be sensitive to the impact on both the blogging community and the advertiser.

Is there an issue if you are working with a consultant or agency to reach out to bloggers on your behalf, but who has not promoted a blog network as a product? In this case, the vendor would be building an outreach list based on your criteria and probably its relationships, but it isn’t advertising a blog network service. I do not think the same liability exists, but usual disclaimer. Not a lawyer, don’t play one on the WWW.

{added 5/21 7:50 am}

After sleeping on it, I realized the above paragraph wasn’t clear. I don’t want to read too much into the examples, so be aware that this next thought is my interpretation, not a direct example from the FTC document.

It is the payment to the blog network combined with the explicit agreement that the bloggers will write that creates commercial speech, ie advertising. When blogger outreach is handled more like public relations, as it would be by a PR agency or an independent consultant like me, there is no agreement that the bloggers will write. Our job is to present a relevant story to a group of bloggers that we expect will be interested. If they write, it is editorial.

If free product is provided to them, the same disclosure provisions would apply. In both cases, whether there is agreement to write or not, best practice is to provide as much information as the blogger needs/requests, but no direction as to post tone, content or timing.

{end insertion}

Free product considerations

Many blogger relations programs include something for free. A product. A trip. Products to giveaway on the blog. While the FTC example doesn’t require you, the company, to do anything, I recommend that you act as though it does, and advise bloggers of the need to disclose.

Should you stop offering review product or developing blogger events? Absolutely not. Even with these new guidelines, honest customer experiences of your products and services are a great way to reach other customers. We all just need to understand that it is a new form of advertising and act accordingly.

A word about contracts. The temptation will be strong, particularly in your legal department, to pass as much liability onto the blogger as you can. My advice is to be reasonable. If the value of the goods received, either for loan or free, is high, you probably need a contract that spells out the responsibilities of the parties. But, if you try to pass on all the responsibility to the bloggers, be prepared for them to walk away. And if you’re just sending the blogger a few DVDs or product samples to try and perhaps give away on her blog, be realistic. A contract?

A form of astroturfing specifically prohibited

The astroturfing example warmed my cold cynical heart. Far too many companies and agencies have engaged in the practice of leaving positive comments on blog posts and forums without disclosing their interest in the product or service being discussed. This is an abhorrent, unethical practice. If the example above makes it into the final guidelines, this will be considered deceptive advertising subject to FTC enforcement. AMEN.

Better practice by far is to participate but disclose your interest. In most cases, you’ll be better off communicating with the site or forum owner first, privately, before jumping into a forum, community or ongoing blog discussion, but some will already have threads for vendor discussion. Once you’ve established a relationship with the community, you may even become a resource for it. Isn’t that what we really want? Robust relationships with our customers and influencers.

What’s the bottom line?

The potential new FTC guidelines change the playing field for social media outreach, but only slightly, and really, well within what we should be doing as ethical practice anyway.

The FTC’s job is to protect consumers from deceptive advertising. One of the ways it does this is to make sure that commercial speech — paid advertising in all its forms — is clearly marked as such. While it may make our jobs as marketers and bloggers a bit more complex, as consumers, we should be glad that we have this watchdog on our side.

Just what is blogger relations anyway?

May 11, 2009 by Susan Getgood

(Warning- long post)

Call it blogger relations or blogger outreach or social media outreach. Whatever we call it, the shorthand version is that it involves engaging with bloggers, with programs and promotions that they will wish to share with their readers.

I’ve been writing about blogger relations on Marketing Roadmaps for quite a while now, and in my opinion, we are in the midst of a fairly important change. Some for the better. Some not so much.

The best way I can find to summarize it is: the more things change, the more they become the same.

Big brands embracing bloggers in a BIG way

Consumer and technology brands have been dabbling in social media for a couple years, but lately it seems like there’s a new BIG campaign aimed at bloggers every week, if not every day. Consider the mom blogging segment. In the last month alone we’ve had Hanes ComfortCrew trip to Disney, Let’s Fix Dinner from Stouffers, a Disney-sponsored mom blogger weekend at DisneyWorld, HP’s NY meet-up with Dara Torres and just last week, the launch of Frigidaire’s Motherload promotion.

Now, big blogger events are nothing new, but the sheer volume of them is. Is it still possible, given such volume, for firms to build real relationships with the influential bloggers in their space through these big promotions?

Or, good as these promotions are — and some of them are superb, with excellent micro-sites and contests, has the product of the outreach, i.e. the blog posts, simply become a new form of advertising?

We don’t dislike advertising. We dislike bad advertising.

Advertising is both useful and necessary. It lets companies offer their products for our consideration in a controlled fashion, to which we supplement trial, word-of-mouth, reviews, blogs and whatever else we use to make a purchase decision.

These big budget blogger events are creating a new form of advertising, similar to sponsored posts in many, but not all, respects.

Let’s distinguish big budget outreach from sponsored posts. In a sponsored post, there is an explicit agreement that the blogger will write something about the product or service but (generally) there’s no direction given about the content of the post. Compensation is paid, to either the blogger directly or a blog network.

In big budget outreach, there is no explicit agreement about posting, although there may be a contract outlining responsibilities of the parties if goods of significant value change hands. No cash compensation is paid.

I do believe, however, that the company and the blogger have an implicit understanding that the blogger will write about the event, and the higher the value of the goods/services, the more certain that is. Assuming the experience is a good one, to not write would set up a highly dissonant state for the blogger. He or she would have taken something of value from the company and not returned the favor.

In fact, it’s a pretty safe bet that the blogger will write; it’s up to the company to provide a good experience that leads to a positive post. So far so good. We’re still in the realm of opinion. Here’s how it drifts into a new form of advertising.

Most big budget blog promotions include the mainstays of traditional advertising – branded badges for the blogs, slick microsites, sweepstakes, etc. Odds are damn good the bloggers will use, link to or tweet about them. As a result, the blogger’s opinion is bracketed by the company’s advertising.

Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck? It’s a duck.

In the midst of all this, the FTC is revising its guidelines on endorsements and testimonials, with the distinct possibility that new guidelines due this summer will hold bloggers, and companies, liable for false statements on blogs.

Disclaimers and ethical transparency certainly go a long way to protecting both the company and the blogger, but in the end, if it looks like advertising or reads like advertising, the FTC is going to call it advertising, regardless of what we might label it ourselves.

As I’ve said before, I believe the key issues will be compensation, whether cash or product, and the amount of direction given to the blogger. To what degree is the blogger acting as a representative of or proxy for the firm?

I would not be surprised to see an either-or-both situation. In other words, even if there is little or no direction given to the blogger about what or when to write, if the value of the goods or services received is significant, the FTC may impose the advertising guidelines. Ditto for paid and sponsored posts, even if the pay is shit.

Signal:Noise – Too much static

You can’t stop the signal, but it is getting harder and harder to pick it up. It’s just too much when every other tweet in the stream seems like an ad, whether for a commercial or “personal” brand.

I think we are edging ever closer to a backlash against commercialism in the blogosphere. We — the collective we — rebelled against mass market command and control advertising by turning to social networks and blogs, yet now we are inundated again. How many posts do we really want to read about Brand X’s big party or Brand Y’s new influencer program before it all starts to blur? Before we stop reading or caring?

Before blogger relations jumps the shark?

It’s a shame. Somewhere in this ever escalating blogger outreach, it seems we’ve lost the element that made the whole thing so appealing, effective and efficient in the first place — the ability to have an honest conversation with your customer about the things, including your products, that both company and customer care about. Instead of relationship and reach, it’s become ALL about reach.

Don’t misunderstand. I don’t have a problem with “blogvertising.”

Some of these recent big budget campaigns are superb examples of how to authentically use new media to reach out to your customers through your customers.

And some will suck, because this new form of advertising isn’t going to be any different than the old. Some good promos. Some not so good. Some excellent writers who write creative and unique posts about the products. And some hacks who repurpose boilerplate and press release content wholesale.

I just hope people don’t get the idea that a big program or sponsored posts are the only game in town. The only way to reach your customers through blogs and other social media. Here’s why.

How do you get them back on the farm once they’ve seen Paris?

Big programs aren’t sustainable. No matter how successful. What happens when the next Frigidaire program doesn’t give away appliances? Or Hanes can’t allocate budget for a getaway for the next group of influencers? Big programs are setting expectations that are impossible for smaller companies to meet, and not even terribly realistic as a long term play for the big consumer brands. Heaven forbid if the big program is a flop. That company won’t be doing any reaching out any time soon.

More importantly, these big programs seem very transactional — here’s the offer, do you want to play? The relationship component of blogger relations, which is sustainable, seems far less important.

Big companies with big brand budgets can do BIG programs. Smaller companies can’t.

For example, the Frigidaire program. Just guessing, but I’d be willing to bet they took a piece of the advertising budget associated with the product launch, and moved it into the blogger program. Sure, it’s a lot of money to give away appliances to bloggers, but in the context of a display ad in Good Housekeeping or a tv commercial during Oprah? Not so much.

Smaller companies don’t have that luxury. They have to be more creative, more clever with smaller budgets, but generally the same scrutiny and expectations of success. They can’t do the extravaganza. They can reach out to establish relationships with influencers, but if no one can hear them for the din around the big campaigns, I fear they will get discouraged and miss the opportunity for engagement.

Worse, they’ll be tempted by the seemingly simple route of spamming bloggers with press releases. Because that’s what we all need right? More crappy pitches in our in-boxes.

What’s the solution?

I’m not suggesting that the big brands stop doing BIG programs with bloggers. There’s huge opportunity on both sides in these programs. I am however hoping that companies of all sizes think strategically about the long term relationships with their online customers when they build their blogger relations programs. Don’t just have big launches and big parties. Engage with your customers in small ways as well.

For example, say you are an appliance manufacturer; in your monitoring, you learn of a blogger who just got laid off and then the microwave exploded. Send a new microwave. It’s not part of a big splashy campaign, but I guarantee that simple act will go just as viral, and contribute just as much to your brand, as the big splashy campaign.

Don’t limit your generosity to just the top bloggers in your space. By all means include them in your programs, but keep in mind that a blogger with fewer readers might be much more engaged in your offer or brand, and in fact, do more for you than the one with thousands of readers. As the saying goes, be nice to everyone on your way up because you never know who you’ll meet on the way down.

Going a bit zen on you, it’s the difference between dropping a big rock in the pond and skimming a pebble across the top. The big splash may be satisfying in the moment, but the small ripples fan out longer and further. Be a pebble.

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