New small business owners face a variety of issues – managing money, hiring employees, procuring customers or clients, and more. Perhaps one of the newest challenges that small business owners face today is how they choose, if they choose at all, to navigate the social media space.
Social media can be a powerful tool if utilized correctly. A strong social media following may be what a business needs to be able to earn more profits, gain notoriety, and maximize a business’s potential. Small business owners can use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Pinterest, Tik Tok, Instagram, or Twitter to help cultivate brand awareness and identity.
Small business owners may be intimidated by creating a social media account for their small business. Some may even think their type of business is too small and they may not benefit from a social media account. However, these owners run the risk of underestimating their consumer base and not being adequately in-tune with modern-day technology.
TO POST, OR NOT TO POST: LEGAL REGULATATIONS
The most common way small business owners use social media is to establish brand awareness or identity. The use of social media, however, is not without legal limitations. While the average person may be able to use their social media account without thinking much of the law, small businesses should be cautious about how they are utilizing their business’s social media account.
While corporations and major brands often have in-house counsel to rely on to guide their decision-making, small businesses are not privy to the same benefits. Thus, it is important for small business owners to be aware of the rules and regulations that apply to them in the social media space.
Social media marketing is subject to a number of regulatory laws and agency oversight, including the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), the National Labor Relations Act, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and more. [i]
Before posting, you may want to ensure that your posts are not violating the NLRA (National Labor Relations Act).For instance, as a small business owner, you would not want to express any opinions on the business’ social media account about how much you dislike unions or hate when employees discuss how much they make. Such a post would not only be in poor taste, but would violate the NLRA and may raise red flags on whether or not you are impeding your employees’ right to protected concerted activity.[ii]
If you own a business that involves the sale of food, drugs, or cosmetics, it would be important to make sure you are following the FDA’s applicable disclosure requirements on your social media account when posting about your products.
If you decide to pay a social media influencer to advertise your brand, they must follow FTC guidelines involving the disclosure of paid advertisements, etc.
It would also be important to note that by creating a social media account, you are creating intellectual property that may be infringed upon. Conversely, you want to ensure that you are not infringing on anyone else’s intellectual property. Copyright infringement may be the most prominent issue small business owners should be cognizant of when creating their business’s social media account. Other social media websites, blog posts, tweets, pictures taken or created and posted on a website or other content-driven expressions are all potentially copyrightable.[iii]
HOW-TO GET STARTED
- KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. You should keep your audience in mind when choosing your social media platform. For instance, Facebook and Pinterest are the most popular platforms for boomers[iv]. However, if your audience skews younger, you may want to start on Instagram first, as a majority of Instagram users are between 18-34 years old. Instagram is also highly visual, which may be beneficial if your business is related to food, fashion, or travel. Twitter is another option you may want to explore if you feel comfortable with a more conversational social media platform. [v]
- WHO WILL POST? Decide who you would like to be responsible for your business’s social media account. A small business may not be able to afford a separate social media manager, so you may want to take charge of the social media responsibilities or delegate it to another employee in your business.
- PLAN YOUR CONTENT. Planning your content in advance gives you the opportunity to be strategic. For example, for Instagram, curating your content so that it is as aesthetically pleasing as possible makes it more likely for you to gain followers. Your social media account for your business is also a representation of your business, so you want to make sure you are posting the best content you can. It helps to proofread your posts and get feedback from friends and family regarding your content. [vi]
- PAY ATTENTION! Social media is all about trends. The more you pay attention to a trend, the more likely it is your account will gain traction or a post will go viral. Make sure you are using analytics tools to guide your future posts. Analytics tools can help you gain insight on your posts that are doing the best, compared to those that have been less successful. Data is incredibly valuable and paying attention to the data you obtain from your social media account will help you contribute to its success. [vii]
Dear Naz,
I did not realize that there are such many laws and regulations that could possibly impact when a business owner post something on a social media. It was indeed very useful information. Also, I like that you allocated specific portion to give an advice to a small business owner. It is easy to understand and remember at the asme time. Nice job!
Hi Maheen,
I found your blog to be extremely interesting. I myself want to own a business one day, and I have not necessarily thought about the implications of a small business posting something online and how that would be regulated. In addition, it was nice to know that if you are paying a social media influencer to advertise your brand, they must disclose that they are being paid by you. Also, you did a great job of explaining at the end how a business could use social media, such as, the platforms that one could use to gain customers. Moreover, I liked that you touched upon planning your content to reach specific demographics, thus allowing more individuals to be intrigued by your product/products. Lastly, you pointed out something that seems so obvious, but yet, sometimes goes unnoticed until too late, which would be the trends of the market. Overall, I enjoyed reading your post.
-Alec Shields
This blog post was very informative and organized, and the content you chose to put in would be beneficial to entrepreneurs that are older or less familiar with using social media in their businesses. The organization was perfect; starting with the legal ramifications of social media that many aren’t aware of was a great way to keep retention throughout the post. The switch over to the business side of how to use social media in business was clean, and the information is detailed enough to provide substantial support for beginner entrepreneurs but not too much that it’ll overwhelm them. This was an extremely well written article. It illustrates how valuable social media could be for small business owners and how relatively easy it is to use if they keep the legal risk in mind.