Clear as mud…
This glass of mud is NOT my client
I am donning my official RantyPants* today.
I have noticed with growing dismay more and more professionals on Twitter promoting their clients without disclosure. Now, let’s be clear – I’m not talking about agency-branded profiles that link back to official websites containing client lists – I think that we’re all on top of the fact that PR agencies are aiming to drive discussions around their clients online. What irks me is promotion of a client or their products from an individual’s account that masquerades as personal, independent recommendation.
My feeling (and practice) is that even if what I’m talking about is not strictly work related, I should still definitely disclose my connection to the company. I even have a work-related category on this blog. If you receive money or other compensation to help promote a company or product, you are deceiving people by not being upfront about your relationship to the company or product. You are digging your own credibility grave, and I pity the fool who thinks they can trick the interwebs for any length of time.
I’m not saying you have to use up all your 140 characters with a length explanation, but I would like to see a few more tweeps using a short and sweet hashtag, even something as simple as #client…
What do you think? Should we be demanding more transparency from professionals online?
*Ping @Prakky & @rachel_thomas_b – pants currently being embroidered by leprechauns, estimated delivery date TBA!
Hear, hear Jess.
It’s something I think about when tweeting from my employer account: a PR account, as you know. When I mention clients, it usually links back to our website where our relationship to the client/product/brand is obvious. Often I’ll also use the term ‘client news’ in a tweet.
From my personal @prakky tweet, I’d never say “Soapysoap is the best soap ever and I think you should try it”, if Soapysoap had any paid relationship with me. That’s icky. Though I’ve probably been guilty of retweeting a client tweet in the past; that would be rare.
Thanks for your comment Michelle.
I agree that there is an obvious link between, say a PR agency and their clients, and that people expect to see press releases etc. I even think that if you disclose (say in your Twitter bio) that you work for said PR agency, that a RT of that press release or other client news is also pretty kosher.
It’s just a real concern for me when that trail of disclosure disappears. I want to be able to trust that conversations I have with individuals on Twitter (especially folks I’ve met through #socadl for example) but that trust is broken by dishonest behavior in my opinion.
Phew, looks like I’m still wearing those pants afterall!
i agree and love the #client tag idea – that’s a very good suggestion!!
i dont personally have any paying clients in the space that you refer. that’s mainly because i dont talk about corporates and my clients are corporates. so that’s more to do with confidentiality than any other reason ie they dont want to be talked about and so i have to respect that. even when i blogged i always said “my day job” or “the corporate i work for”. people got to know who it was over time but i never advertised it.
hope you are OK with me bragging about my wine club tho – ahhaaaaa but that’s me all over so i guess Im covered?? xc
Thanks for commenting Charlie.
I hope the tone of my post wasn’t too harsh, I certainly didn’t want to come across as critical of discussing clients, only of not being open that they are clients, and I’m sure that yours respect your confidentiality online.
I love hearing about #deadreds and living vicariously through all you red-wine drinkers
didnt think your tone was harsh at all – in fact i liked your points. i help many friends in this space but like most of us we dont get paid a brass razzoooooooo for it – because im their friend i respect their work and am hapi to support, comment, and spread the good word about their stuff!! and a do a heap of stuff free. in general though EVERYONE knows who my friends are and who i help and support!! and they do the same back for me and my deadreds
so – its a give and take love affair up here online and i think that’s also whats lovely about it.
in the space of “paid clients” i wholeheartedly agree it is unethical not to be open and there are actually a HEAP of case studies where they PR agencies has come under fire for not disclosing.
keep up the good words Jessie – i like your thinking
xc
Lack of transparency is the quickest way to get ignored on the Web – particularly on Twitter where it’s really easy to ignore someone (unfollow). But I’ve also found that, within reason, not too many people mind a “sponsored” tweet that is identified as such – the key point is knowing of the (inevitable) bias so it can be appropriately weighted.
Totally agree Ric – by offering all the relevant information we enable people to make their own decision. I’m not against ‘sponsored’ tweets in principle, but I am against representing as anything but what they are – an advertisement.
Interesting post Jessie. It affects not only PR people. I want to know how I can promote my company with my blog without affecting my reputation as a blogger. For this reason, besides a link to my company on my blogroll, I have thus far avoided promoting my company through my blog.
Looking forward to our upcoming meeting.
Regards,
G
I agree George, this really effects anyone interacting through social media! We can definitely discuss this further in our meeting. Thanks for your comment!
Great post Jessie.
Is it worth getting together #socadl in discussion in suggesting some standardised hastags that can be utilised for everyone to disclose client relationships and/or sponsored tweets?
An interesting site is US based business founded on creating a marketplace for in-stream twitter advertising is Sponsored Tweets (http://sponsoredtweets.com).
The most interesting part of the website was their approach toward ethical marketing on Twitter, and how they had understood the idea of transparency and disclosure of their advertising. This then had been integrated into the development of their advertising platform so that a form of disclosure is required for every advertisement generated.
Quoted from their Advertiser FAQ page:
“We require disclosure to protect you, the Tweeter and their audience. We believe in WOMMA’s Honesty ROI : Relationship, Opinion, Identity. Without disclosure there is no honesty. Our system helps you ethically engage in sponsored conversations through Twitter while adhering to the legal guidelines set forth by the FTC.
We comply with FTC regulations that state, “When there exists a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product which might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement (i.e., the connection is not reasonably expected by the audience) such connection must be fully disclosed.”
Worth taking a look at – especially the different disclosure options they offer (e.g #ad, “This tweet is sponsored by ABC”, etc.)
Thanks for sharing the Sponsored Tweets info Pippa! I will definitely be looking into that in more detail.
At the moment Australia doesn’t have the same regulations as the US in regards to disclosure for bloggers (or marketers on Twitter) – but I think we’re civilized enough to formulate our own approach!
FWIW my earlier tweet about KFC which inspired others to eat it too was unpaid, even though the most transparent part was the greasy box the “food” came in.
If only KF’ers would pay us in popcorn chicken…
This is a really interesting post. I’ve been wondering for a while how social media professional and personal lives blend and where the lines are. For a medium that is based around personal interactions its easy for trust to be abused and taken advantage of. Considering the way in which twitter is growing and evolving is it possible to have a hard and fast set of rules?
Good point about trying to apply ‘rules’ to such a fluid medium Noriko. I guess I’m not trying to tell people exactly how, but just that they need to disclose client relationships…but appreciate your point. Thanks for your comment!
Hmmm – not all of us work in PR or Marketing so this can bel less of an issue – but I always like to think of ways to improve transparency. Per tweet semantics just won’t happen & the KFC grease option is tempting but jus too messy for me.
I already have a ‘recent projects’ list buried in a PDF on my about page. Maybe I could smother that in chicken fat or … make a list of clients/affiliations in text on my about page. I think such a list on a persons main profile or home page would do the trick.
Nice talking in more than 140 chars!
Great to se ye olde blogs getting a bit more use.
Take care
fang – mikeseyfang
Hi Mike – thanks for your comment, and for forcing some perspective on me!
I agree that a tweet-by-tweet approach to disclosure may not be practical, and like your idea of listing affiliations on home/profile page…it aligns with my thoughts that there should be an obvious trail of disclosure.
Cheers for dropping by, hope to see you soon.
Absolutely agree with this post Jessie, I think deliberate lack of clarity can only harm us and our clients but have actually found some clients like the idea – at least initially. I’d love to know what younger recipients of this stuff think though. Theyseem to have a different radar for marketing than my lot and even Gen Y, in that it seems to be expected and they identify it and just move on with less sense of personal affront. Or is that just the teens I know? Is there a generational difference in reaction that needs to be taken into account in terms of audience groups for social media strategies? Even if there is, I still think the relationship should be clear upfront.
good idea, definitely agree, there must be some sort of “best practice” for social media marketing?