Ethics Video

I found this video very insightful. The one area of word of mouth marketing ethics that I have been having difficulty with is disclosure. Thankfully, Andy spent a good part of his presentation looking at this issue. I especially liked his explanation of "lying to your mother" - if your mother cannot read a blog post and determine that it is advertising, you have not been honest enough about who you are and what your intentions are. In other words, you have not successfully completed the task of full disclosure. The best way to avoid "lying to your mother" is to clearly state at the beginning of every post, "I work for ______, and this is my personal opinion." Also, avoid paying bloggers cash for their posts. This makes for a messy situation, and once consumers find out that bloggers are paid, they will have difficulty trusting your organization.

I would further the conversation on this topic by saying that companies should never offer compensation for bloggers. Even with full disclosure, this is a risky method of word of mouth marketing. As a consumer, I find it hard to trust a review or blog post when the blogger has been compensated by the company they are reviewing, even if the blogger has properly disclosed who they are. Organic conversation is the absolute best way to gain the trust of any consumer. Compensated bloggers will not have the same effect as uncompensated bloggers. Period.

Another topic that Andy discusses is proper training. This is the best way to avoid ethical issues. Also, if you can prove that you provided proper training and ethical guidelines for employees, the FTC will not hold you liable. This is without a doubt the easiest way to stay ethical in the eyes of the consumer. It is simple, and it does not take that much time or effort. Provide the proper training, and you will not regret it.

One of the last topics that Andy talked about really stuck with me. He said, "We have a chance to do something good." He then went on to reference the way email was misused and how email advertising will never be trusted again. Once companies began spamming it was all over. Andy does not want to see that happen with social media. He wants to see it be used in an ethical, consumer-friendly way. He does not want to see the same mistakes made with social media that were made with email.