What should you consider when creating content and promoting your business online?

With Lawyer and Co-founder of Femfluence, Jemma Fleetwood

As well as her role as Operations Director at Femfluence, Jemma is a Media and Reputation management lawyer. She has experience with working with influencers, high profile sportspersons and politicians when their reputation is at risk. 

At face value posting content online is quick, simple and an accessible method to mass market products and instantly reach a wide audience. Despite the clear pros of posting online content, it is very easy to get caught out when posting content online. Businesses need to have clear safeguards in place, be cognisant of their target audience, to mitigate the risk of misleading promotions or incorrectly advertising their products.

Things can be easily miscommunicated online which can lead to legal trouble in the future, and this course of action is anything but quick and simple.

From Jemma’s experience, business owners often neglect the legal side of starting a business due to the costs involved when first starting out. Let’s be honest, in the excitement of starting a business it is understandable to see risk management as a barrier and subsequently fall down your list of priorities. But, forgetting to register trademarks and failing to get clued up about online advertising can increase the risk of an expensive legal dispute in the future. 

Jemma provided us with the top three things business owners should consider, particularly when promoting their business online.

Check The Rules When Advertising Online or Using Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a fantastic way to gain a loyal following and trustworthy clients. When an influencer works with brands, or your business, they are under a legal obligation to disclose that what they are promoting is a paid advertisement, commission based or it is a #PR #Gift! 

This is really important when you are giving influencers freebies, or if you have a large following and you are promoting your brand online. Jemma says that these rules are for those who are “paid” to promote products online, but the meaning of “paid” is broad. If you are a Director or Shareholder then you could be caught by these rules. 

Intellectual Property Infringement

You cannot use copyrighted content online to promote your business without authorisation from the owner. Social Media channels already have in place policies relating to the infringement of intellectual property rights and it is important to be familiar with these.

You are responsible for ensuring you are not infringing others rights when posting online. A simple example is making sure the music that you are uploading on Social Media is not uploaded separately (even background music could be caught!). You should also check whether you can film at any given location, whether the people in your video have given you permission to post and whether you are making use of another creator's content without their permission.

Jemma says intellectual property rights are a minefield! If you are hit with a cease and desist letter or a message from a social media platform asking you to take down content, it is absolutely critical that you take action immediately. 

Speaking About Others Online

At Femfluence we are all about supporting other females in their pursuit of personal and professional growth. Whilst it’s not our style to say hurtful comments online about others, sadly we’ve all seen it happen before.

Making comments online about another business can lead to trouble, if those comments are untrue or false. If you comment on another’s business, perhaps a competitor, making defamatory comments about them is a sure fire way to lead you into legal trouble.

Sometimes we forget that what we publish online can be screenshotted and shared with anyone and everyone, and once anything is on the internet your digital footprint is easily traceable, and lasting! If you’re passing a comment on someone or something then make sure it is true or at the very least, an honest (viable!) opinion of them. 

We are not fans of bringing other businesses down, but we’ve all been there; we are frustrated by a service or an individual and in a reactionary moment we feel like we need to vent about them online to our followers. 

Jemma’s advice is to take a deep breath and think before you post any content online about a third party. Many of the disputes she deals with relate to individuals who have said something online on social media, or in a public forum, which has led to the damage to the reputation of the recipient of those comments. Damaging someone’s reputation may seem slightly trivial but it can result in a serious dispute, and large financial consequences.

Creating content online can be a great way to promote your business organically but it does come with its own risks. Jemma is a lawyer with experience with media and reputational risks. If you want to find out more about her work, then you can do so here.

Also, if you want to discuss this topic with our community at Femfluence, we host business breakfasts, workshops, and mastermind sessions for female entrepreneurs and industry professionals to help them grow and overcome pitfalls in all areas of their professional journey, including tax, legal, finance, marketing strategy, and entrepreneurship. You can subscribe here if you want to keep up to date with our latest news and blogs.