The Dos and Don'ts of Social Media Advertising
Jan. 24, 2024
www.alabamarealtors.com
 
"Many licensees now view advertising on social media as a necessary part of the job. Although Alabama's advertising laws are the same for social media as for other forms of advertisements, applying those requirements to social media posts can be somewhat tricky at first. We've broken down each component of the law related to real estate advertisements below. Read on for some practical tips on keeping your social media posts compliant.
 
What counts as an advertisement?
The term "advertisement" encompasses any public representation of a real estate company and/or its services. This means that you should consider anything that you post on social media related to your business to be an advertisement for license law purposes.
 
Be straightforward.
Licensees should be careful to never use unclear, tricky, or vague language in advertisements. A common rule of thumb is to write them at approximately an 8th grade reading level to maximize readers' understanding.
 
Reminder: Code of Ethics and Fair Housing
You should always be mindful that nothing you post can be construed as running afoul of fair housing laws. Additionally, the REALTOR® Code of Ethics prohibits use of "harassing speech, hate speech, epithets, or slurs based on" one of the 9 protected classes (race, color, national origin, disability, religion, sex, familial status, sexual orientation, and gender identity). This prohibition applies to any online activity, not just online activity related to your business.
 
Important Note: Qualified Broker Liability
It is important to note that Alabama law also imposes a duty on qualifying brokers to ensure that their associate brokers and salespersons are compliant. Not only is it a violation for them to fail to identify their company or qualifying broker, but it is also a violation for a qualifying broker to allow it to be posted.
 
There are 3 Parts to AREC's governance of Ads, including Social Media Posts:
 
Part 1: Who does this license work for?
Alabama Code advertisements prominently identify the trade name of either the company or the qualifying broker for whom the licensee making the advertisement works.
 
First, the company or qualifying broker's name as it appears on their real estate license must appear on the advertisement. For example:
 
Ryan works for XYZ Realty, Inc., Ryan cannot simply list his company as being "XYZ" or even "XYZ Realty," since neither of those are the full trade name of the company as it is licensed. He must include the full name "XYZ Realty, Inc."
 
Second, the law requires the company name or the qualifying broker's name be listed prominently. The law is not exactly clear, but a common definition of prominently is "so as to catch the attention; conspicuously." If the social media post was text-only, Ryan would need to ensure the company or qualifying broker's name was both noticeable and readable. If he were posting a picture or video, he needs to make sure it is written large enough and displayed for long enough to be easily readable, even if the reader simply scrolls past the post.
 
Part 2: Where did this ad come from?
Any person who views the advertisement should be able to easily identify that it is an advertisement for brokerage services.
 
One way is to list the licensee's company name. Another option is for the licensee to identify him/herself as being a real estate licensee in the advertisement. In our fictitious example, Ryan would list both his name and his status as a licensed real estate salesperson in Alabama.
 
Part 3: Where do I put this information?
The best practice is to include the required information in each component of your post (the caption, the text, the photo, the video, etc.). The goal is that a reader would be able to see all the required information even if they do not view every component of your post.
 
There is one more special consideration for social media specifically: scrolling. You should ensure your posts are compliant with license law even if someone simply scrolls past them. This means you will need to preview the post as it looks as a stand-alone post and as it looks when included on the "homepage." In other words, each post and click-through option of an advertisement must include the required information."

*Images courtesy of the Alabama Real Estate Commission.