Word of mouth and social media marketing practices can easily be perceived as unethical, more importantly because the line defining ethical and unethical practices is not clearly stated. Having watched Andy's video, I learned that the FTC has some rules and policies to do with ethical issues in regard with the social media marketing. He then gave three simple guidelines for save social media marketing, which are: honest opinion and full disclosure of any association to the company; monitor conversations and correct misstatements; and finally create policies and develop a training program for social media marketing. Andy also recommended not to give cash compensations to the talkers but samples, memberships and so on. “Don't lie to your mom” is the line that Andy used to describe ethically acceptable social media marketing campaign.
Another thing I found noteworthy is whether or not the statements posted are based on an honest, real experience, rather than the gift giveaways. To compensate this, Andy provides a toolkit for disclosure practices which covers everything from identity, relationship with the company, if there is any incentive or compensations given, and so on. In summing up, Andy reflected the degradation of online marketing by the overflowing number of junk mails we receive everyday. He has a vision of renewing the image of social media advertising by raising the standards.
My final thoughts on this is I believe that our most enthusiast talkers would not necessarily be those who are receiving the most compensation, but the ones who had the best single experience with the company.
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