Online platforms operating in highly regulated industries face additional marketing challenges due to all the extra rules required for legal compliance. These regulations are typically set by government agencies. The most highly regulated industries are those that involve financial transactions, like banks or trading platforms. There are several others that are subject to industry-specific regulations, over and above financial considerations. Many websites will have age restrictions, too. Privacy concerns also play a huge part in these regulatory restrictions.
So let's have a look at the kinds of growth marketing tactics that attract visitors and potential customers while still complying with legislative frameworks.
Fully Understand the Regulatory Environment
As the Zen proverb goes, before you can go anywhere, you need to know where you are. That very much applies here. The first step to creating successful marketing tactics in highly regulated industries is to thoroughly understand the regulatory environment in which a site is operating. In the US, there are several regulatory bodies, each with its own rules to which marketers must adhere. The most relevant for our purposes is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This organization regulates and monitors deceptive or unfair marketing practices, including misleading advertising. It also has the Child Online Privacy Protection Act to protect the more vulnerable members of society. Of course, the specific regulatory requirements will vary from industry to industry.
There are also separate government agencies for specific industries, like online gambling. This is highly regulated and each casino must be registered with a certified licensor and follow all its regulations. But it's not that simple in practice. Let's look at Florida, for instance. As online gambling isn't allowed within the state, for legal online casinos in Florida to operate, they need to get an offshore license and comply with that jurisdiction's regulations. Malta, Curacao and Gibraltar licensing authorities are some of the most commonly used. This allows the casino to overcome compliance challenges and offer gambling to players from around the world.
Research: Old School and Reliable
Once a business has a solid grasp of the regulatory environment in which it operates, the next step is to conduct market research. This provides the other side of the story: customer needs. Knowing your target audience is critical for any successful marketing campaign, so market research is a vital step in coming up with novel, legal ways to reach them. This allows you to find gaps in your marketing strategy or come up with more innovative campaigns. It's also a very good idea to study the marketing ploys your competitors are using. This can give you plenty of useful tips for navigating regulatory compliance while gaining more customers.
Compliance Review Processes
If you completely understand the regulations within your operation, you can ensure that your marketing messages are compliant. But don't just rely on your own judgment here, even if you know your industry inside and out. Create a compliance review process where your marketing and advertising is reviewed by third-party specialists. These could be social media rules experts, advertising oversight advisors or anyone with working knowledge of the regulations on each platform where you intend to market yourself.
Create Relationships with Authorities
One of the very best ways to ensure that your business fully complies with industry regulations is to develop a good relationship with the relevant authorities in your field. If you do this, you can check with them beforehand to ensure that your marketing campaigns comply with their rules. An open line of communication can give you the inside track, providing clarification and guidance that you can use in your marketing efforts.
Stay Flexible and Adaptable
Because of the complexity of many regulatory frameworks and the ever-changing laws enacted in response to modern tech developments, it's essential to remain agile. Employ someone to monitor and stay up to date with changes. You also need to continually review your marketing strategies to make the right adjustments in response to law changes. It's not a bad idea to prepare alternative campaigns just in case. That's really no different to the common practice of A/B testing, where two different campaign versions are rolled out to see which is the more effective. Having a backup campaign ready for a pivot can save you from overstepping legal boundaries. It might cost a bit more, but that pales in comparison to the consequences of breaking the law.
Conclusion
Staying compliant with all the rules and regulations in your industry can be complex, but you can simplify things by being forearmed with knowledge. There's no substitute for knowing your onions. Creating working relationships with authorities can prevent you from falling afoul of the law because you missed a small detail. Consider them an external part of your team. Stay flexible and be ready to make quick changes on the fly. And don't publish anything before it's gone through a thorough compliance review process.
