Illegal Methods Of Advertising

Every business needs marketing and advertising to promote themselves and their products or services. Though if you are not careful and get caught up in illegal methods of advertising you could find yourself fined out of business in no time at all.

It can be difficult to stay on the right side of the law when it comes to advertising and starting a new business. You see many competitors doing it and are often even suggested to engage in illegal advertising methods by some gurus and lead generation companies. However, it is you and your business that is going to suffer if you get caught.

Some advertising methods can be illegal for certain industries or are regulated by associations and codes of ethics in some industries but are not illegal or frowned upon for others. This can be especially true for attorneys and those in the real estate and mortgage industries.

Most of the complaints about advertising are about unfair and misleading advertisements and marketing campaigns. This includes blatant bait and switch tactics and tricky financing and interest rate calculations. Though providing you are honest in your advertising you can avoid a good majority of complaints and problems.

However, it can seem that advertising options are shrinking for business owners, especially those on a budget. Many of these easiest and best forms of marketing are being regulated so much that it is difficult to be able to afford them if you want to stay on the right side of the law. After fax advertising was regulated out, spamming via email campaigns has come under attack. Now you must work hard to build your own opt-in list if you want to do email marketing.

However it is perhaps telemarketing that has suffered the most from regulations and tougher laws. Consumer protection is a great thing, and there is no doubt that telemarketing was out of control. However it is now a tight rope walk for call centers to make sure that they are following all of the fine print around the Do Not Call List. This includes the times you can call, the information you need to provide, and making sure you have paid for subscription to all of the area codes you are calling.

Telemarketing can still be a very effective form of advertising, though you do need to make sure that you are in compliance with the law from the leads that you are using to making sure your lists are scrubbed as well as standing out with credibility by using a toll free number that shows up on caller ID.