7 Digital Marketing Tactics That Could Land You in Legal Trouble

Digital marketing has evolved, becoming vital for any organization to showcase its products and services quickly and reliably.

Overall, digital marketing allows companies to reach specific audiences with a unique, tailored message that captures the interest of potential buyers in that niche.

However, crafting winning digital marketing strategies can be challenging. Many of us are tempted to use shortcuts or engage in unlawful tactics that can land you trouble.

Keep in mind, even the smallest shortcuts can land you into legal problems.

Understanding digital marketing

Digital marketing includes various marketing technologies and tactics used to reach different consumers online, thus allowing a company to establish its unique brand identity.

However, digital marketing requires strategic thinking, marketing savvy, and brilliant data-handling tactics since it incorporates traditional and digital techniques and know-how.

Digital marketing techniques include:

• Mobile Marketing
• Affiliate Marketing
• Content Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Pay-per-click
• Social media marketing
• Search Engine Optimization
• Marketing Analytics

All these digital marketing techniques have a legal landscape that governs the marketer to protect consumers.

What is the legal landscape in digital marketing?

At the core, digital marketing has various regulations and laws governing how business owners market their services and products, and they aim to:

• Protect consumers from misleading information
• Ensure fair competition among com
• Respect the intellectual property rights

The laws and agencies that govern digital advertisement include:

• The Federal Trade Commission enforces advertising laws, ensures they get correctly followed, and that the advertisement information is not unfair or deceptive. It also ensures that ads clearly disclose all their endorsements or material connections.
• Consumer protection laws safeguard consumers against fraudulent and predatory marketers, and they include proper regulations on sales tactics, pricing, and consumer privacy.
• Intellectual property laws protect brands, individual innovations, and creative works, preventing marketers from infringing on patents, trademarks, and copyrights in their marketing materials.
• GDPR: For marketers targeting EU consumers, you must familiarize yourself with GDPR. GDPR demands clear, active consent for any data collection, along with a transparent explanation of how the information will be used. Marketers must also make it easy for users to withdraw consent and access their data.

Failure to follow intellectual property laws may lead to financial penalties and lawsuits. Businesses facing such legal challenges can benefit from learning the basics of litigation funding to help cover the costs of defending their cases. Consult a law firm in New Jersey, to help you navigate the digital marketing legal landscape.

7 digital marketing tactics that could land you in legal trouble

1. Unlawful data collection

Collecting consumer data helps you to target potential customers appropriately.

However, collecting the data without consumers’ explicit permission violates their privacy rights.

Consumers want to feel safe while giving their data to businesses; thus, they must establish privacy policies explaining the collected information and its purpose.

Additionally, have a proper data storage mechanism to protect the data from being stolen. Poor data storage can expose you to lawsuits.

2. Sending spam messages without an opt-in

Sometimes, we get text messages or emails from unknown people, classified as spam. Sending unsolicited marketing emails or texts is illegal when the other person has not opted in according to the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.

However, this has not deterred a large number of people and companies from sending spam. In fact, 56.5% of emails sent daily are spam!

3. Giving false information about your services or products

According to the FCC, giving false marketing information about your brand is illegal.

Misrepresenting your products or services on your website or social media misleads or tricks your potential clients, even if it’s done in error.

For example, suppose you advertise your law firm as one that handles criminal law and other branches of the law, but in reality, you only deal with criminal law.

Such an advertisement tricks potential clients into believing you have experience offering other practices, such as civil suits. This potentially exposes a client looking for representation in anything other than criminal law adversely.

This act of miscommunication may lead to fines and lawsuits.

Additionally, it’s also illegal to misrepresent your services or product availability.

For example, if you advertise that a particular product has sold out but it’s still available, that’s misleading your customers, which is illegal.

Lastly, if your product has a defect or malfunction and you don’t state it when marketing it, your buyers can sue you for selling substandard products.

4. Intellectual property theft and plagiarism

It’s widespread for business owners to use exciting quotes or great photos they found online in their external or internal marketing.

However, using third-party content without permission or license may constitute copyright or trademark infringement, which can have severe commercial and legal consequences.

Some common advertisement infringements of intellectual property include the use of;

• Music
• Designs
• Quotes
• Images
• Cartoons
• Use of a registered trademark
• Client lists
• Logos
• Symbols

Most intellectual property theft cases fall under federal cases and may lead to imprisonment, fines, and civil charges.

5. False greenwashing advertisement

As the world increasingly goes green with increased attention to climate change and sustainability, many companies have followed suit, and created eco-friendly products.

However, just as many are accrediting false green credentials to their products or services. This is called ‘greenwashing’.

The Federal Trade Commission has green guides that range from recycled materials or products to biodegradable trash bags that enable the promoters to comply with green advertisements and avoid deceptive marketing.

Although these guides are more advisory, the FTC may take action once they detect deception that violates federal law. Various giant companies have faced fines to the tune of millions of dollars.

6. Violating your terms and conditions

Every business needs clear terms and conditions governing its advertising. Online businesses need a clickwrap agreement that virtually sets the essential details.

A clickwrap agreement is basically a legal contract you accept online by clicking a button or checking a box. These are commonly used for things like terms of service or privacy policies on websites and apps. Instead of a physical signature, you essentially hit “I agree” and that signifies your acceptance of the terms.

Enable a clickwrap agreement to allow your website visitors to accept the terms and conditions digitally, and it should cover;

• Scope of your marketing goals, strategies, and plans
• Payment fees and schedules
• Timelines and deliverables
• Restraint of other parties’ trade
• Information Confidentiality
• Dispute resolution
• Limitation to the business legal responsibility

For example, it’s illegal to share your client’s information with a third party or state a specific price and then increase it when selling the product.

7. Misleading photos

Misleading photos in the advertising world entail using deceptive or enhanced images/photos to make your product appear more appealing than its actual appearance.

It’s misleading and gives false information through bait advertising.

For example, we have all bought products online but when they are delivered, they look nothing like the pictures we saw. Or, a hotelier advertising their menu may enhance the food items in an exaggerated manner using selective lighting, extensive editing, or strategic angles, making the visual presentation more alluring than the actual food.

Final thoughts on digital marketing tactics that could land you in legal trouble

While digital marketing is a powerful tool for businesses, it comes with ethical regulations and responsibilities.

Practicing the above unethical practices can inflict lasting damages from loss of consumer trust to poor reputation, legal charges, fines, and sometimes even jail terms.

However, adhering to ethical guidelines, respecting audiences, and prioritizing transparency promotes healthy client-brand relationships and a respectful and truthful advertising environment.