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Digital marketing has made it possible for businesses to expand and leave their print all over the world. You don’t even need a physical space to operate your business anymore; you can solely rely on the digitized and globalized system to run a successful business. However, just because it’s virtually operating doesn’t mean there aren’t any laws governing the online business scene. Many businesses fall into common legal pitfalls as they fail to realize their existence in the first place. To protect your online operations and maintain your business’ reputation, it’s important to recognize the following legal pitfalls.
Privacy and Data Security
The first pitfall concerns the privacy and security of your customers. Customers have the right to confidentiality, and breaking their trust in any way will make you lose them forever. However, losing your current customers may be the least of your worries in face of a privacy violation lawsuit. To protect the trust of your customers and abide by privacy legislation, never collect private information without asking for your customers’ permission. The most common way to do that is to notify your customers first and ask them to sign a clickwrap terms-and-conditions form. The form should include details about how you’ll use the information they’ve provided.
Business Structure
In case you’re planning to start a digital marketing business, there will be a few factors to take into account. For starters, you’ll need to decide on the legal structure of your business. The two most common business structures for digital marketing agencies are sole proprietorship and limited liability (LLC), but this guide from ZenBusiness explains why an LLC can be the smarter choice. Although sole proprietorship has lower startup fees, it comes with higher taxes and limits the
Intellectual Property
You may think that everything available on the internet is free to use, but that’s another common legal pitfall for digital marketers. Intellectual property works in both ways, to protect your own rights and the rights of other content creators. Intellectual property includes trademarks and copyrights, so you’ll have to get permission to use another’s intellectual property or purchase it, in case that option is available. It’s also important to create your own copyrights for your original content.
Advertising
If your advertisements mislead the viewers in one way or another, then the law may have another issue with you. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), unfair and deceptive advertising that misleads consumers or affects their behavior and decisions is prohibited. Be sure to understand the FTC’s policies regarding the truth in advertising so you can always implement truthful and relevant advertising.
Digital marketing is just any other business; it has its own rules and regulations. Failing to meet the required standards in your digital marketing activities may leave you liable for serious lawsuits. To prevent any clashes with the law, be sure to maintain good privacy and security protocols, establish the right business structure, respect intellectual property, and be truthful in your advertising.
