Attention companies using Pinterest as part of your marketing strategy: proceed with extreme caution. The popular social network, or “copyright infringement machine” as one commentator calls it, has turned into a platform where companies must tread carefully or face legal consequences.

Recently, Cole Haan, a fashion label specializing in footwear, ran a seemingly innocuous contest on Pinterest that ended up catching the attention of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The brand created the “Wandering Sole” campaign and sought to use Pinterest to market it. Thus, Cole Haan asked Pinterest users to create boards with their favorite Cole Haan images from the company’s own “Wandering Sole” board, and for the users to pin their favorite places to wander. Users who participated received the chance to win a $1000 cash reward.

win a $1,000 shopping spree from @colehaan ! share where your sole's are going to wander – http://t.co/m4cK5RCcDM

— Jennifer Chong (@jchongstudio) May 26, 2013

This contest — a popular type in the social media marketing world — may not seem detrimental; however, federal law provides that a company must make clear that it has a financial relationship with the individuals endorsing it. It seems that Cole Haan accidentally used Pinterest as a vehicle for illicit advertising. A user coming across the images pinned as part of the contest had no way of knowing that the images were in the running for a prize of $1000. In order to legally run the campaign, Cole Haan would’ve had to disclose the financial incentive.

Specifically, the FTC made four conclusions regarding the Wandering Sole campaign:

1. Pinterest users’ pins featuring Cole Haan images were endorsements. (‘Endorsement’ is a legal term of art, and the FTC has its own guidelines regarding the use of endorsements).
2. Individuals using Pinterest who saw the pins and boards relating to Cole Haan’s campaign had no reasonable way of knowing that the pins were motivated by a chance to win $1,000.
3. Cole Haan did not take appropriate steps to make it clear to average Pinterest users that the pins were part of a campaign with a $1,000 cash reward.
4. Cole Haan did not instruct participants in the campaign to disclose that their activity stemmed from Cole Haan’s campaign, not their own unsolicited Pinterest activity.

Importantly, the FTC decided not to persue enforcement action despite suggesting that Cole Haan violated federal policy. Basically, the FTC wrote a letter reprimanding Cole Haan, but did not financially punish the company or pursue any legal action. This likely results from the novelty of these issues. Companies using social media sites often accidentally violate federal laws since the platforms create new user experiences that do not perfectly cohere to the world the laws originally intended to govern. This is something we are bound to see a whole lot more of until the laws catch up with technological innovation.

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Imran Ahmed is a law student and writer living in New York City whose blog explores the legal implications of social media and the internet. Contact him via email here.

Featured image courtesy of [afunkydamsel via Flickr]

Imran Ahmed

Imran Ahmed is a writer living in New York. Contact Imran at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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In recent years, social media has become intrinsically linked with daily life. From dining to retail to business to politics, almost every public figure or company uses some sort of social media. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Youtube, or one of the many other options, social media isn’t just for individuals anymore, it’s for businesses, too. It’s estimated that 73 percent of Americans who regularly use the internet are involved in social media and networking in some capacity.

Working in social media is actually a viable and legitimate job for many people right now. An AOL jobs post from January 2014 projects that this year a Social Media Strategist will make about $61,000, require a bachelor’s degree, and points out that “the more social media followers a company has, the more their products and services are recognized.”

So, how are law firms doing with this? Well, a firm called Good2bSocial tried to answer that question this winter. Good2bSocial is a consulting firm that helps other companies expand their social marketing, particularly in the legal field. They worked together with AboveTheLaw to attempt to figure out how exactly the legal industry, particularly leaders in the industry, are doing with social media. The results were that big law firms are doing a pretty miserable job with it.

A white paper called “The Social Law Firm” by Good2bSocial was released last December, and followup articles have been released since then. The white paper itself requires a (free) subscription to Good2bSocial’s site, but if you don’t feel like reading the entire thing, I’ve summed up some important points below.

The study essentially analyzed the social media practices of the Am Law 50. It was conducted through surveys and questionnaires and an analysis of existing social media sites for each of the firms.

The study pretty much finds that while many law firms use social media, and use it extensively, they don’t use it in the most efficient or creative ways. The use of social media is described as a “token effort,” because law firms create social media sites to say that they have them, and so that they’re searchable, but don’t take advantage of the potential that those sites offer. Good2bSocial points out that social media takes real strategy separate from basic marketing. While law firms are creating substantive and interesting content, they are not using social media to promote such content as much as they could be.

Law firms have gotten that social media is important, it just really seems like they haven’t begun to understand how it works. The report states that “firms continue to view social media as nothing more than a distribution channel for firm news and press releases. This alone explains why firms achieve such low levels of engagement.” Uploading a pdf link to twitter isn’t engaging, it isn’t going to foster discussion, and it isn’t going to attract more followers.

Another mistake made by law firms, according to this study, is that they don’t have platforms in place to allow for coordination and collaboration within the firm, or in-house blogs. All of these things are not only attractive concepts for clients or potential employees, but also are helpful and engaging for current employees. The study does predict that this will all change, but that change is slow going and many firms are just beginning to scratch the surface of their social media potential.

The study does note that smaller firms are doing a better job with social media, but overall the conclusion remains that the field of law in general is lacking in social media prowess.

This begs an important question, though. Should law firms even care about social media, especially big, established firms like the Am Law 50? Social media is so crucial for places like retail stores, restaurants, or other product-based businesses because these places can attract new customers through the web. Is the same true for big law firms? Will interesting social media make clients more likely to visit that firm?

Well to be honest, I don’t know. Part of me wants to say absolutely not, these law firms have their niches and their reputations on which to rely. Engaging social media probably won’t have as large of an effect on their track record, as say, a good track record. On the other hand, though, social media can’t hurt. It could attract employees who find the idea of a collaborative social media experience within in the firm interesting. And as the business world changes, clients shopping around for new law firms may be interesting in finding lawyers who are as technologically savvy as they are.

The fact that smaller law firms are doing better with social media is very interesting. It’s unsurprising, given that I would assume smaller firms are more likely to try to actively attract new business, and are more willing to experiment with different outreach techniques.

In conclusion, Good2bSocial’s rundown was very interesting, but I don’t think social media will end up meaning that much for the Am Law 50 that were analyzed. The different nature of consumers of law services rather than other products make social media less of a necessity and more of a bonus. That being said, there’s much more to be gained by instituting a robust social media strategy than to be lost, and really, big law firms should consider getting on the bandwagon.

[Good2bSocial]

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Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [Jason Howle via Flickr]

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Law Firms Are Bad at Social Media, But Does it Matter? appeared first on Law Street.