Internet services such as social media allow the interaction of people, enabling them to share and create content that forms online communities. Internet marketing increases business opportunities for improving their product market regardless of the size or type of the market. Social media is mainly used in promotion of the brand and business name, informing clients on availability and nature of provided goods and services, receiving clients’ feedbacks, improving product or service market online, and improving the relationship between the clients and service providers. There are numerous advantages of using internet services for marketing which may include its ability to reach the target group, affordability easy and the fast mean of an advertisement among others. However, there are legal statues and statements that online marketers need to understand as they venture into online marketing of their products and services as discussed herein.
Before contacting already existing or potential customers in the market, online entrepreneurs and marketers are expected to understand various legal issues that guide and protect digital marketing. Among the main legal issues need to be considered by the marketers include privacy and data collection, intellectual property issues, and FCT rules and regulations as well as consumer protection bodies. The intellectual property lawyers define these issues with the aim of protecting the online marketing from and products from irregularities such as cybersquatting and product defamation.
It is evident that a digital marketer is required to collect information about the clients or potential clients as they send marketing emails and messages. The process may not be as simple as one may think. Following legal procedure for data collection regarding the clients is always hectic and complicated. Internet intellectual property lawyers provide laws and privacy policies that protect the welfare and privacy of the customers. An online marketer will be required to notify individuals before collecting their personal details as per the privacy legislation statement. The policy protects information for both existing and potential customer for online products.
For instance, the California Online Privacy Protection Act (OPPA) requires marketers to disclose in information type the mode of online marketing collects, means of sharing the collected information, the process for changing and reviewing the shared information collected, and the date of policy effectiveness. The marketer need also to share information on the form of any change that has occurred since the establishment of the policy. It is mandatory for the online entrepreneurs with stores in California to comply with the set policies and regulations thus having high chances of securing clients.
Companies using online marketing to broaden the market for their products can quickly comply with this privacy policy through the establishment of a business website that requires clients and web users to agree with terms and conditions of the company while gathering information from them. By agreeing with the set terms, the clients have legally complied with the law on sharing of their information to the company or marketers. Marketers also will be required to protect the data collected from their clients according to the policy statement.
Online marketers need to assure their clients that the information collected from them is kept safe and secure. Assurance for security regarding personal information builds trust to the clients. This involves demonstration on how to store and secure their information. Companies and online marketers can ensure that the clients’ information is protected by the use of SSL that protects the connection between the business website and the user during transmission of the data. Online cloud storage provides the most secure means of storing customers’ data for the online businesses and marketing companies. Reputable data storage providers especially that is within the business jurisdiction ensures safe and secure storage of the customers’ data.
Some jurisdiction has legal requirements that inhibit data transfer. These jurisdictions may require data to be transferred only to the jurisdictions sharing similar legal protections for the involved data. Use of online cloud storage provider requires the marketer should ensure that the business privacy policy or the privacy terms of the business website address the situation on privacy breach within the online cloud storage provider and the release of the clients’ data. Using reputable providers and transparency on whom to store the customers’ data increases trust among the customers.
Digital marketers also need to understand how to comply with the privacy and protection of customer data policy. This can be achieved through setting up of privacy policy within the website, keeping collected data with reputable storage providers, and business protection from liability in situations of data loss or breaching.
Internet intellectual property lawyers paraphrase intellectual property law as a legal statement that protects internet intellectual properties on issues relating to copyright and trademarks. Online marketing policies prevent infringing on other individuals’ intellectual properties. As a new online marketer, one should know the importance of protecting the brand or company logo while sending marketing mail or fliers or printed advertisement to potential customers.
It is essential to register a business trademark thus giving the owner and exclusive right to use certain words, name, design, or logo to connect with given products and services. Trademark registration has ten years validity which is renewable in meeting certain requirements. An online intellectual property lawyer provides a better idea to online marketers on trademark database that they need to search for more information on intellectual property policy statements.
An online marketer may want to copyright their texts as they use original marketing language on websites and emails. Copyright provides a clear relationship between the original work’s author and other works that are modified. Plagiarism is always a threat in the legal protection of other people’s products rights which should be checked especially if a marketer is using a third party individual for writing the marketing texts or copies.
The compliance of this policy involves checking out that the marketers’ branding does not fringe with other businesses brands. One should also ensure registration of his intellectual property and hire a lawyer if need be. Marketing terms and services to comprise intellectual property use expectations.
It is vital for the online marketers to not that the law prohibits advertisements and marketing messages that mislead consumers. Online marketing procedures that are decisive thus unfairly affecting customers’ behaviors and their ability to make the right decision are also illegal. The law, therefore, requires the marketers to tell the truth, providing all relevant information required by a consumer.
One should also consider comparative advertising and marketing to avoid breaching standards of advertising. The marketing message and advert should be carefully reviewed by both the marketer and an outside party to ensure relevance in the information it passes to the customers (especially those advertising Children Advertising Review Unit guidelines.)
The anti-spam law requires an online advertiser to comply with CAN-SPAM guidelines. The business marketers are not required to use false images containing misleading information to the customers, not to use deceptive lines of subjects, message identification as an ad, as well as honoring opt-out request with immediate effect. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) entails clear guidelines that create a friendly consumer for global e-commerce.
Online advertisers, therefore, need to comply with the set law and policies through getting consent to send their marketing tools, create awareness to the consumers on privacy policies and ensure that they sign the policies for acceptance of terms and conditions on obtaining their data, protection of intellectual property and preventing infringe on other people’s properties. Honesty and transparency are essential as one comply with policies that require marketers and companies to provide true and relevant information to the clients. A marketer can only avoid getting into legal troubles by ensuring that they stick to the rules by protecting customers’ privacy, intellectual property and adhering to laws and regulations supporting consumers’ protection.
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