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A hot topic in the online marketing world in the latter half of 2015, influencer marketing has exploded in popularity for 2016 – it is virtually possible to attend a conference or sit on a marketers’ Twitter feed without seeing at least one pitch on how to attract or use influencers or why one is being left behind for failing to employ influencer marketing. What isn’t discussed frequently is the ethical and legal considerations that are inherent to influencer marketing’s existence; in this article we endeavor to rectify that by exploring how this marketing concept works and the guidelines that shape it.Why Write About Influencer Marketing?First, a definition. As I am wont to say, influencer marketing can be defined simply as having someone else tell your story for you – it is the digital version of word of mouth marketing. For our purposes, there are three types of influencers: aspirational, authoritative, and peer.Aspirational InfluencersCelebrities are the largest grouping – do you aspire to be like David Beckham? I’m a Yank, so I don’t know if this example is still relevant, but at least I wasn’t about to mention the Spice Girls. Engaging Mr Beckham as an influencer would be to play on a prospective customer’s desires – we aspire to be like our heroes and own what they have.Authoritative Influencers“Authorities” in this definition are topical experts with a trusting audience. Inexplicably, there’s a population in the US that hangs on the words of Dr Oz, despite his claims being repeatedly censured by governing medical bodies. The studio television audience, however, views Dr Oz as an expert – if he says that licking a pavement during a full moon will result in weight loss, they will trust his advice to a surprising degree. Authoritative influencers exert an air of competence – on a psychological level, we feel compelled to seek approval through mimicry.Peer InfluencersThe type of influence we’re going to refer back to most for this article is that of everyday, normal people: peers. The difference between peer influence and the previous two types is that we self-identify the most with our friends and neighbors: it isn’t so much of a desire to have what they have – it is a need, a compulsion.Is Influencer Marketing Ethical?One of the earlier writers on the subject of ethics in influence is Kristin Matthews of Convince and Convert. It is her contention that while the end influencer has the ultimate responsibility to their audience in terms of disclosure of monetary or product compensation, since it is the brand or agency that stands to face legal ramifications of marketing action, the ethical decision of forcing disclosure of influencers is that of marketing transparency – one should not hide or shirk away from the duties of disclosure.Naturally, as owner of Intellifluence, I think frequently on the ethics of influence – it is my recommendation to everyone using the system to be clear in disclosure. If anything I think audiences appreciate honesty and will be more likely to reward said honesty with purchasing at a higher rate long term than those audiences that come to believe they’ve been misled.And Is Influencer Marketing Legal?Legality is largely dependent upon geography, so for the purposes of this piece, I wanted to look into three large English-speaking countries to see how influence laws differ. Keep in mind that I am not a lawyer or solicitor and this should not be taken as legal advice – these are just guidelines to reference. If you are uncertain as to the legalities of any concept or tactic, consult a licensed, local legal expert.1. AustraliaReferencing the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission guide of online reviews, using influencers for marketing purposes is acceptable so long as:a) The commercial relationship is transparent. Most of the transactions in my network are in the way of product in exchange for an honest review, so for the transparency an influencer in Australia should state that product exchanged hands for the purposes of the review.b) The review must be impartial (i.e. not written by the brand/agency). I find this somewhat humorous as the best influencer campaigns take place using the influencer’s voice; brand written reviews often come off feeling flat and inauthentic. According to Aussie law, the review needs to be truly generated by the influencer.c) The review cannot be edited to the point of changing meaning. This seems valid; in most cases one would not have the opportunity to edit an influencers’ tweets, LinkedIn posts, or self-hosted blog posts, but this appears to be appropriate protection to ensure that impartiality is upheld.2. United KingdomReviewing the Competition and Markets Authority’s report on a call for information regarding online reviews and endorsements, the law is still unclear. The CMA is aware that bloggers, online publications, and social media mavens generate revenue by publishing paid advertorials, sponsorships, and the like. However, they have not gone so far as to indicate what should occur in terms of appropriate disclosure (to the best of my knowledge).If anything, this report should be required reading for anyone uncertain on the prospects of efficacy of influencer marketing – by CMA research, “53% found the opinion of the blogger or vlogger ‘much more important’ or ‘little more important’ than other sources of information” – to me this points to something I now take for granted: in a world becoming blind to traditional advertising, influencer reviews are the future.3. United StatesThe geography I’m most familiar with, given my native status, is also the one with the most confusing disclosure guidelines:a) Influencers, brands, and agencies are all potentially culpable for lack of transparency. If a celebrity influencer is found to be violating trust by not disclosing, fines can exist.b) All endorsements fall under the realm of commercial speech – such speech violates FTC Act only if it is deceptive. As with Aussie law, this means that all parties involved should ensure that the review is impartial as possible (not written by brand/agency) and is factual: devoid of false claims.c) No one really knows the preferred method of disclosure on social as FTC has not clearly indicated whether #spon #ad styled tags will be sufficient; in their posted opinions, sometimes this is appropriate, and sometimes it is not. The litmus test for this appears to be on whether the end user is recognizing and can say with certainty that the post is an ad versus organic posting. When in doubt, over-disclose rather than under-disclose.Suggestions for BrandsSeeing how as influencer marketing is legal in the major English-speaking countries provided above, and poses no ethical dilemma so long as disclosure is clear and consistent, the efficacy of this flavor of marketing alone points to a somewhat obvious decision: get started today, because your competitors might already be ahead of you.I adapted this answer from a post I originally wrote for the Caliber blog.

Congratulations! I was in your position 3 years ago when I was hired to be the Community Manager at Thought Labs, a boutique social media marketing agency in Boston. I was, and still am, the only employee. It's a small and growing agency with some very big clients. Thought Labs | Our Clients Earlier this year I was promoted to Head of Communities.Prior to this, I ran an IT services company for 7 years, which I started when I was 15. It was a very small business, but I did have a few business clients and even won a few government contracts for the 2010 census. Suffice it to say that while my technical background is somewhat useful in my new career and augments my marketing skills, when I first started 3 years ago, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.So, I would start by echoing Sebastian's advice about reading as much as you can. There are many blogs, websites, white papers, slide shares, etc out there that will help you get up to speed.Others have also mentioned that you'll need to understand reporting and, while it may or may not be your job yet, understanding how to build a social media program that provides ROI for your employer will be useful. I recommend my buddy Olivier Blanchard's book Social Media ROI.It's one of the first marketing books I read, and it is as relevant today as it was 3 years ago when I first picked it up.As for getting some tactical basics down, I'd recommend checking out my own series on Facebook Basics. I'm writing it for people who are completely new to the world of social media marketing. It's still in development, I've produced two ebooks out of the series so far, so the series is a work in progress, but it's also completely free: Facebook Basics - Writing Great Facebook Posts eBookAnd if you're interested in content marketing, then my interview with Kentico CEO Petr Palas is full of great insights from the CEO of a leading company in the space: Kentico CEO Petr Palas' Top Content Marketing Advice: Part 1!Meanwhile, HubSpot has a great free certification with free training for people who aren't familiar with content marketing, including a section on social media: Free Online Marketing Training | Inbound Certification It's definitely worth your time, lots of great information for a beginner, and it's free. Full disclosure, Thought Labs is a HubSpot partner and customer.I'd recommend getting a strong understanding of content marketing, as it is an important key in creating a social media program that can provide ROI, both for B2B and B2C businesses. Personally, I believe that content marketing is the future of social media marketing.Since you're new to social media marketing, your first goal is just to learn as much as you can about social media marketing, both from a tactical standpoint (how to best utilize each platform, how to build successful online communities, what post types perform best on each platform, etc) and from a strategic standpoint (which platform should "X" type of brand be using, how should brands be producing better mobile and video content - my recent article on Social Media Today about creating great video content for Facebook, how do I build a successful social media program that supports and drives real business goals, etc)PS: I'm not sure how familiar you are with the FTC's Disclosure Guidelines, but I wanted to point out that if you live and work in the US, then the advice Sumit Banik shared in his answer is illegal and could lead to some serious fines for yourself, your employer, or both. (I'm sure he didn't mean any harm by it though, looking at the topics he follows it looks like he may live outside of the US and thus not be familiar with the FTC guidelines.)You'll notice that anytime I shared content that I or my employer created that I stated that relationship, as well as my employer's relationship with HubSpot when recommending their free Inbound Certification.Not only is this the ethical thing to do, it's also illegal not to do so if you live and work in the US. You can learn a bit more about the FTC's disclosure guidelines for people like you and I in this FAQ: The FTC’s Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking

Its a business model made to target mostly dumb and naive people.Alot of young business people often join an MLM and start their first business. When you’re transitioning from the 9 - 5 lifestyle the business world is quite an alien field to you, and you’re open to wonderful stories and might believe extraordinary claims.When well-spoken and charming people telling good stories on stage and talking big numbers while presenting their biased statistics, you can't help but buy into this crap. You definitely want to escape your treacherous lifestyle and be successful and happy just like the good-looking person on stage is hinting that you too could be just like them.Whats funny though is that people who otherwise would never even call you to see how you are doing or acknowledge you in a different social setting, are now suddenly have changed their attitude about you and are calling you, wanting to meet up because they want you to join as a business partner on their team.For those that don't know about business, partnerships are very thoroughly drafted in a contract, and the responsibilities are carefully planned because of the high failure rate of partnerships, 90%+ failure rate that is.MLMs have shown that they don’t work well in capitalist societies.Capitalism is built upon people who create a service or product that others are willing to consume while providing distribution channels most convenient for the customers.With a MLM business the product that they often claim is unique, is only unique for a couple of months before the competition creates a better and more affordable product or as the case with ACN .. the product flops and the technology quickly becomes replaced with a new and better technology as we live in an age of rapid technological disruption.In addition, people who have been enrolled in these MLM companies are often brainwashed by their friends and colleagues to believe things that are simply flawed. The correct statistics and chances aren’t presented to them upfront, if people knew the statistics from the start, nobody would even join these companies.According to research at the FTC, a whopping 99% of recruited sellers lose money in an MLM venture. ... The same FTC report explains that 39% of legitimate small businesses ultimately earn a profit over time. That's still less than a 50/50 success rate, but about 39x better than an MLM.MLMs like to showcase skewed statistics during their presentations and only tell you what the high earners earn.. the high earners being only 0.05% of all members who join who do manage to make $100,000 or above. This requires incredible sales and interpersonal skills as well as determination and some luck. That $100,000 is based on statistics analysis in 2020, and this money isnt made at one shot, it can be years before one is able to accumulate 100k from an MLM venture, which makes you wonder if you’d be able to make the same amount of money working at a job for 4 years.Check this out… According to MLM statistics, 997 people out of 1000 surveyed said they lost money. Dont forget all the costs that you need to pay when joining an MLM company.Getting back to what you’re actually joining when you joining an MLM.MLM isnt a partnership or a business opportunity.. what you are joining is a hybrid business model where the blind is encouraged to recruit the blind. You are basically being directly lied to or having key information withheld from you by the top staff to make an informed financial decision/investment, you are then bamboozled and conned by all the beautiful people who lie about how much money they made with this company, and then you’re enticed to start calling everybody you know ranging from your elementary school teacher to your ex-girlfriends to get them to invest in this great opportunity.This whole sector reeks of desperation and is filled with shady practices with sketchy people who really do not care about you.45% of new businesses fail during the 1st give years.. but guess what?They still made money unlike MLMsCompare that statistic with 3/1000 people who actually made a profit with a MLM company.If youre in a MLM and you’re wondering when you will finally make some money, take this advice and get the hell out! Invest your time into starting a business after doing careful research.. don’t follow the crowd.. there’s a reason why 5% of people have 95% of the money in the world.Or begin investing your money followed Warren Buffet principles. If you want better performance I would suggest to check out this swing trading firm where I been investing in the last couple of years and making consistent returns. www.toptradingsignals.us