Employee disclosure in social media isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s the law. And with the most recent updates to the FTC’s guidelines, it’s even more important for these disclosures to be perfectly clear.
A lot of employees hesitate to share endorsements for their companies because they’re afraid of doing it wrong (and that’s why it’s up to you to teach them). Proper disclosure can be as simple as these 10 magic words, “I work for ____, and this is my personal opinion.”
A clear disclosure like this makes for stronger word of mouth — not weaker credibility. Your employees are great talkers for your company because they know your stuff well, and they’ve got the expertise to tell a great story. Disclosure lets everyone know that they’re not talking about your company because they have to, they’re doing it out of pure passion for what they do.
At Fiskars, their employees love making stuff. So naturally, they’re going to talk about the Fiskars tools that help them do it. But instead of some tiny print at the bottom of an “About Me” section, their disclosures are incredibly easy to see. Here’s an example from one employee’s Pinterest board:
That kind of disclosure tells everyone that their employees feel comfortable sharing where they work because they truly like the stuff anyway — and that’s something worth talking about.
