Compliance is a central part of responsible marketing. It can seem incredibly complex, primarily when marketers target audiences in multiple countries. Awareness is the first step to staying compliant. However, people must take other decisive actions to avoid getting fined or facing other regulatory action.
Understand the Applicable Privacy Laws
Today’s marketers must know the privacy laws governing the places where their customers live. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a significant one because it relates to all of the European Union.
The GDPR requires marketers to provide all the information they have on an individual upon request. Plus, people can ask companies to delete the data they have about them and stop processing it. There are also only six justifications for collecting someone’s data and marketers must act accordingly.
Things get more complicated in the United States — the country doesn’t have an all-governing privacy law. Instead, there are some federal laws for certain types of data and only a few states have extensive privacy laws so far.
However, unless a business is very small with a limited reach, its marketing team members should familiarize themselves with all the places where they do or may operate. That’s primarily because the internet breaks down geographic boundaries.
A person from France may sign up for a newsletter from a site based in the United States. Later, they might realize the company doesn’t ship to France and never order anything from it. However, that example still involves the person providing data that representatives from the business must handle responsibly.
Learn About Location-Specific Email Obligations
The internet has opened the world of email marketing. Since — like websites — emails cross geographical boundaries in virtually friction-free ways, they require careful treatment to maintain compliance. One of the most practical steps is for marketers to look at their techniques and trends methodically.
They should start by segmenting people on an email list by location, if possible. That way, it’s easier to see instances where they need to study privacy laws. They should also bear in mind nations may update the specifics of what marketers need to know to stay compliant. Marketing compliance is never a one-and-done effort and professionals must treat it as an evolving subject.
Another smart thing to do for compliant marketing efforts is to consider tracking the similarities among email-based requirements. For example, most have opt-in and opt-out specifics. Some also state the timeframes in which companies must comply with a person’s request to have their data deleted. Another consistent requirement across numerous location-based regulations is that emails clearly identify the sender.
Knowing about the specifics of certain countries is an excellent way to stay abreast of the global landscape. Some marketers may want to consider using a cloud-based database or tool to help them stay compliant with less manual effort.
Create a Dedicated Compliance Team
Some business leaders try to maintain compliance by tacking on extra responsibilities to marketers’ already packed schedules. Another mistake is assigning compliance duties to a C-suite leader with little or no experience in the matter. However, those approaches can elevate risk and raise the likelihood of mistakes.
The better option is to have a team solely overseeing and guiding a company’s compliance efforts. People can then rest assured the individuals in those roles will not become distracted or overwhelmed by non-compliance-related responsibilities.
The expertise compliance specialists offer can prove invaluable to the business and its marketing team. One trap many people fall into relates to the internet’s vast information. Even individuals who know how to obtain the most specific search engine results often spend far too much time locating the information they need.
On top of that, there’s no guarantee the details they find online are wholly accurate, especially if they came from social media. Relying on information from a compliance team is the best way to ensure it’s correct before acting on any recommendations or strategies.
Since compliance experts know their subject matter so well, they’re often excellent at making the information digestible and interesting to broad audiences. That’s critical, especially when a company must make major changes to either get in or stay compliant with regulations.
Change is often difficult within businesses of all types. However, when leaders and others in the company understand why it’s necessary to do things differently, they’ll usually be more receptive to whatever’s ahead.
Stay Aware of Influencer-Related Requirements
Influencer marketing has dramatically gained popularity and momentum in the United States and elsewhere. Many marketers find that influencers help businesses have an extensive reach and cause greater customer loyalty.
However, influencers can also bring complications since people sometimes view them as extensions of a company and its brand. It’s also often harder to monitor what influencers say, making it more challenging to ensure they don’t use inflated language or anything regulators might classify as deceptive.
In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission requires influencers to disclose links to brands. Many of them do so using language such as “Thanks to [brand name] for sending me this to try!” or something similar. Others use hashtags such as #ad or #promotional to help social media users differentiate that content.
The United Kingdom’s regulations say disclosures in influencers’ posts or videos should occur at the beginning rather than the end, where people could miss them. Other places may require such disclosures to appear in the local language to ensure understanding. That’s a vital detail, especially since so many influencers have followers worldwide.
Influencer marketing requires many considerations before a business initially engages in it or ramps up its efforts. They include how many influencers the company will hire, the budget, the posting frequency of influencer content and more. But, marketers must not overlook compliance-related issues. Otherwise, their influencer campaigns could prove more costly than beneficial.
Know the Applicable Industry-Specific Rules
Being a compliant marketer means understanding any regulations applying to the industries in which they work. For example, in the U.S., marketers at pharmaceutical companies must satisfy different regulators depending on if they sell prescription or over-the-counter products.
Similarly, the Securities and Exchange Commission recently established rules governing the relationship between investment advising businesses and the marketers they hire. A 2022 survey of people in that industry indicated 61% said the new regulations had altered their processes for reviewing marketing materials. Then, 35% reported their marketing-related logging and tracking workflows had changed.
The United States also has various standards for how financial institutions can market their services or products. One is that banks cannot describe deposit accounts as “free,” “no cost,” or a similar term if people must pay maintenance or activity fees to retain them. Banks must also use advertising formats and content reflective of the local population to avoid regulatory scrutiny.
Regardless of a company’s industry, marketers must take care not to use any practices or language that could make people feel misled. That’s an ideal to follow, no matter the surrounding regulations. If consumers believe businesses are untruthful through their marketing efforts, the company could get substantial unwanted attention.
Make Compliance a Marketing Priority
Effective marketing to consumers requires sending the right messages through the best channels, plus maintaining a communication balance that keeps a company in a top-of-mind position without annoying people. It can be daunting, even without the additional necessity of staying compliant.
However, when marketers prioritize compliance, they’ll set the foundation for getting the best possible outcomes. After all, if an entire campaign or product launch catches the attention of regulators for undesirable reasons, a business could waste millions of dollars and experience the aftermath of a damaged reputation. Using the suggestions here is an excellent way to keep marketing efforts above-board, profitable and optimized.
Devin Partida writes about topics concerning tech and the internet. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of ReHack.com.
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