Content and Compliance: You Can Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too

The internet and social media are relatively recent innovations, but content creation is not. Brand messaging, brand identity, and content creation for marketing purposes have been around as early as 1895 when John Deere began producing a magazine for farmers.  Naturally, the emergence of the internet and subsequent innovations have prompted substantial evolution in the content marketing space. In 2010, smartphones had yet to dominate the market, there was no influencer marketing space, and a relatively small number of people consumed most of their content digitally.

Today, most people can’t imagine life before digital content. There are now over 3.6 billion social media users and 6.95 billion people using mobile phones. More than 80% of U.S. adults use their mobile phones to access the internet, and that number is expected to continue growing.

A few central sentiments stand regarding content: successful marketing requires an understanding of your target audience, clear objectives, and a strategy that aligns with your brand identity. 

A new consideration for content marketing leaders is compliance. Marketing compliance is the process of making sure that your marketing, advertising, and content abide by all rules and regulations designed to safeguard consumers and their information. The rise of the internet and marketing has caught the attention of lawmakers, resulting in substantial regulation. For content leaders, keeping content engaging—and in consonance with brand messaging and brand identity—can be difficult, especially for highly regulated sectors such as healthcare and finance. 

So, how do you create content from a compliance standpoint while simultaneously engaging consumers in heavily regulated fields? Continue reading to find out.

Marketing Guidance From the Federal Trade Commission  

As briefly alluded to above, digital marketing has undergone lots of regulation in recent years. Main concerns include marketing transparency and privacy issues, and there are an array of laws that apply to the interest and even niche issues like content marketing. Many organizations have had to adjust their compliance strategies to comply with these new laws that, quite frankly, aren’t always crystal clear about how to be 100% compliant. 

For example, under the Federal Trade Commission Act:

• Advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive;
• Advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims; and
• Advertisements cannot be unfair.

According to the FTC’s Deception Policy Statement, an ad is deceptive if it contains a statement—or omits information—that:

• Is likely to mislead consumers acting reasonably under the circumstances; and
• Is “material” – that is, important to a consumer’s decision to buy or use the product.

According to the Federal Trade Commission Act and the FTC’s Unfairness Policy Statement, an ad or business practice is unfair if:

• It causes or is likely to cause substantial consumer injury which a consumer could not reasonably avoid; and
• It is not outweighed by the benefit to consumers.

In a typical inquiry into whether an ad is deceptive, the FTC looks at the following factors: 

• How the ad looks from the point of view of the “reasonable consumer,” or the typical person viewing the ad.
• Both “express” and “implied” claims.
• What the ad does not say—in other words, whether or not the failure to include certain information could leave consumers with a misimpression about the product.
• Whether the claim would be “material” or important to a consumer’s decision to buy or use the product.
• Whether the advertiser has sufficient evidence to support the claims in the ad.

As illustrated by the above Act, compliance isn’t always an open-shut case, especially when attempting to juggle content creation that is compliant with several different laws but still in line with brand messaging and brand identity. That’s why knowing the ins and outs of content marketing compliance is so important to your organization’s success. 

Writing from a Compliance Standpoint 

Using Disclaimers. There are a plethora of compliance issues that can arise from content marketing, and while it is important to prioritize creative endeavors like brand messaging and brand identity, you always want to make sure your legal department is satisfied, too. As you execute your content strategy, it’s imperative to keep in mind that legal errors can come with high stakes and financial ramifications. Equally as important is knowing how to incorporate compliance-friendly devices into content itself, such as disclaimers.

Most people have seen disclaimers on the internet, even if they didn’t really know what they were reading due to all the jargon. Nearly every website has one in place, and you should as well. A disclaimer is a notice that is placed in your content or on your website to limit liability for the outcome of the use of your site. Disclaimers certainly won’t absolve content creators of all potential liability, but they’re a good place to start in protecting your interests. Also, since they’re so common, they won’t detract from the brand messaging and brand identity you’ve worked so hard to create.

Avoid Giving Unwarranted Advice. Similar to using disclaimers, you want to avoid giving any kind of advice that may lead to liability down the road. Many professions — such as medical, legal, and financial — have specific rules for giving professional advice. Here are a few examples of disclaimers related to professional advice: 

• Healthcare 
• Legal
• Financial

Giving professional advice without complying with the relevant regulations can lead to civil or even criminal liability. For example, in some states, practicing law — i.e., giving legal advice —  without a license is a misdemeanor. There are similar ramifications for giving medical advice without being a licensed provider. 

In short, make it more than clear to readers that your content does not amount to professional advice. Further, certainly don’t co-mingle the idea of your brand identity, brand messaging, and unwarranted professional advice. 

Duplicate Content 

Another compliance issue is duplicate content. Duplicate content is content that appears on two or more web pages. It can occur on your own site or copy on another site you don’t control. Don’t worry about items like footers and other content that make sense to appear on multiple pages — these aren’t really considered “duplicate content” for SEO purposes. 

Many creators worry about Google penalties associated with duplicate content, but Google has shot down rumors about the existence of an explicit “duplicate content penalty.” In its Google Siearch Central Blog, Google stated that there’s “no such thing” as a “duplicate content penalty.” Instead, Google explained that there are some penalties related to the idea of having the same content as another site — for example, if you’re scraping content from other sites and republishing it, or if you republish content without adding additional value:

These tactics are outlined and discouraged in Google’s Webmaster Guidelines:

• Don’t create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.
• Avoid… “cookie cutter” approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content.
• If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your site adds value. 
• Provide unique and relevant content that gives users a reason to visit your site first.

So, now you know how to avoid using duplicate content on your website, but how do you keep others from using your content? Here’s how to protect your brand identity and brand messaging from content-scrapers.

301 redirect. This takes visitors to the new URL and tells search engines the redirect is permanent. This is typically used when a page is removed from a website to direct people to a replacement. A 301 redirect also transfers link equity from the original page to another one.

Canonical tag. You can add this tag to duplicate pages. It basically signals to Google that you know you have duplicate content, it’s there for a reason, you want XYZ page to end up in the search results, and you want to consolidate the link equity from all of the duplicates into the primary/original page.

Other options to mitigate content theft:

• Legal jargon graphic
• Footer option
• Implement a disclaimer page
• Java script embed pop out

If you are aware of someone stealing your content, one option is to file a DMCA takedown notice. Also, check out this nifty tool to identify duplicate content.

Content Workshop: Your Marketing Partner

Need help making sure you produce content that is both compliant and engaging? Content Workshop is an eclectic group of artists, professors, entrepreneurs, and marketers with creative and curious minds. We choose our partners carefully — we don’t work with people we don’t trust, but we’ll lasso the moon for those we do.

We’re dedicated to helping you successfully execute your growth goals. We can help you develop your brand identity and execute a strategy for reaching goals through content creation and the development of a strategic, practical brand messaging.

Learn more about how Content Workshop can help you build a unique, and effective brand identity by contacting us today.