The Internet marketers know about affiliate marketing using affiliates for conducting the marketing activities for upscaling online sales. Indeed affiliate marketing is much effective to increase online business. At the same time, the affiliate marketers must know The Do Not Call Register Act and the Australian Spam Act are applicable to affiliate marketing.
Affiliate Marketing has gained popularity as an effective marketing form for businesses for attracting new online customers and make sales.
Nevertheless, affiliate marketing involves risks for the affiliates conducting the marketing and the business owners. Being stated in simple terms, the businesses engaged in affiliate marketing bear the responsibility for their affiliates' conduct.
For the newcomers in affiliate marketing, they must be aware of a list of facts before engaging themselves in the process of marketing their business.
What Is Meant By Affiliate Marketing?
In affiliate marketing, the affiliates conduct business activities to boost online sales. An affiliate assists the businesses to sell their products and services and in exchange, they get a payment, normally in the form of a commission. For instance, an affiliate could be an online blog servicing to promote specific hotels and offering accommodation for the travelers to stay for the time.
Despite, affiliate marketing being appealing, the law is still applicable to the actual services or products suppliers.
What are the Relevant Laws?
Several laws come to play a vital role with affiliate marketing, which include the laws governing the use of MMS, SMS, phone calls, and direct messaging for marketing activities.
Online marketing activities are regulated by the Australian Spam Act. This law prohibits the respective businesses from sending and leading to be sent any kind of unsolicited commercial messages. As stated under the Spam Act, the affiliate should follow the guidelines -
- Cannot send any electronic marketing messages, without acquiring the recipient consents' first
- Should identify the organization or the person clearly who did authorize the message
- Should provide the subscribe way to the people and allow them to opt-out from receiving any such future messages.
Under the Do Not Call Register Act, unsolicited telemarketing calls are prohibited from being made to the specific numbers as registered with the Do Not Call Register. This legislations' provisions reflect most of the Australian Spam Act at large. It indicates the business owners engaging the affiliates in marketing their businesses could even fall within the legislation's scope.
Both these Acts - the Do Not Call Register Act and the Australian Spam Act provide civil penalties for those who are involved in aiding, abetting, counseling, and procuring a breach. It indicates that if the affiliates are receiving a penalty, then the business owner may even be penalized as if he/she had committed the wrongful act.
Are the New Content Marketing Rules Being Complied With?
New guidance governs so that the legal trouble can be avoided while rolling out the structured content marketing strategy.
Chief Five Tips Must be Followed by the Affiliate Marketers
- Seek out suitable undertakings and assurances from the affiliates that they shall not ever contravene with the Australian Spam Act and the Do Not Call Register Act while marketing for you.
- Seek out more undertakings that the affiliates should always consult you before they engage in particular marketing strategies. Likewise, you shall get a few oversights for minimizing the risks of being responsible for the actions taken by the affiliates.
- Always maintain a written contract with the affiliate marketers, and cover the facts like prohibited conducts, payments, and liabilities.
- Consider the services offered by your affiliates. Will they really be able to provide the service with the potentiality in boosting your sales but not call forth any legal risk? If the answer is no, then go ahead and engage them as your affiliates.
- Be careful with the testimonials. In the affiliates' review on the particular service or a product, the only genuine opinion should be expressed and not be influenced by any kind of benefit received or any payment.
Formal warnings, infringement notices, financial penalties, injunctions for preventing future conduct, and enforceable undertakings comprise the penalties.
Affiliate marketing is indeed very effective to increase online businesses. But you need to be careful that the benefits and not put down by the failure to managing the affiliate marketing program properly. Having the contract in place, as well as the affiliate's understanding of the applicable legal rules, you can take the advantages of affiliate marketing and lower the legal consequence risks.
