Testimonials, also called reviews on Facebook or recommendations on LinkedIn, are statements made by clients about the quality of the services they received from advisors/agents. Recently, the SEC issued a series of new marketing rules that apply to testimonials that advisors/agents must follow if they want to compliantly display testimonials on their social media pages.
Yext can currently provide an SEC compliance solution for monitoring testimonials on LinkedIn and Facebook in order to comply with the SEC’s rules.
How does it work?
If SEC regulation is enabled, Yext sends an email to advisors/agents about every testimonial they receive, in which they must confirm if the following information about the testimonial is true:
- It came from a client.
- It wasn’t paid for.
- It wasn’t solicited.
- It isn’t a conflict of interest.
What happens next depends on the advisor/agent’s answer, whether the testimonial was left on Facebook or LinkedIn, whether the advisor/agent responds to the email in the allotted timeframe, and how each organization configured their testimonial rules.
Note: If the advisor/agent responds that the testimonial was paid for, it is rejected regardless of how an organization has the rest of their testimonial rules configured.
If SEC regulation is disabled, all testimonials are treated like posts and come through Supervision as regular alerts.
Facebook (reviews)
Note: this only applies to public reviews. We are unable to capture private Facebook reviews.
Accepted by Compliance
If the advisor/agent answers the questions in the allotted timeframe AND the review complies with the rules configured by the organization, Yext adds a comment to the review that includes the Accepted Testimonial Language, which is visible on the advisor/agent Facebook page. The language is configurable by each organization.
Rejected by Compliance
If the advisor/agent doesn’t answer the questions in the allotted timeframe, OR one or more answers to the questions do not comply with the rules configured by the organization, Yext adds a comment to the review that includes the Rejected Testimonial Language, which is visible on the advisor/agent Facebook page. The language is configurable by each organization.
LinkedIn (recommendations)
Accepted by Compliance
If the advisor/agent answers the questions in the allotted timeframe AND the recommendation complies with the rules configured by the organization, Yext takes no further action and leaves the recommendation as it is on the advisor/agent LinkedIn profile.
Rejected by Compliance
If the advisor/agent doesn’t answer the questions in the allotted timeframe, OR one or more answers to the questions do not comply with the rules configured by the organization, Yext hides the recommendation from the advisor/agent’s LinkedIn profile.
How to enable and configure testimonials
The rules around what kinds of testimonials are allowed and what aren’t allowed depend on the policies of each individual organization.
- In the Administration view, click Settings.
- Under Organizational Settings, in the Review & Archive tab, find the Testimonial Review section, and configure the following settings:
Testimonial Review settings:
SEC Regulated
Enabled: Testimonials left for advisors/agents are subject to these settings.
Disabled: Ignore testimonial rules and treat testimonials like regular posts that generate alerts.
Testimonials allowed (LinkedIn only)
Note: LinkedIn requires a dedicated setting for showing or hiding recommendations. To regulate LinkedIn recommendations, you must enable both the SEC Regulated and the Testimonials allowed settings.
Enabled: Testimonial rules apply to LinkedIn recommendations and they are visible on advisor/agent LinkedIn profiles.
Disabled: Testimonials are not allowed on LinkedIn and recommendations are automatically hidden from advisor/agent LinkedIn profiles.
Classification Time Limit (in hours)
When an advisor/agent gets a testimonial, they must respond to the email from Yext within a certain amount of time or the testimonial gets a Rejected Testimonial Language comment (Facebook) or is hidden (LinkedIn). The amount of time can be set from 12 to 168 hours.
Alert on All Testimonials
Enabled: All testimonials generate an alert, regardless of whether they flag lexicon or how the advisor/agent responds to the email. Compliance must accept or reject every testimonial.
Disabled: Only testimonials that flag lexicon or violate one or more rules generate an alert. Compliance automatically accepts all other testimonials.
Allow Solicited Testimonials
Enabled: If the advisor/agent disclosed that the testimonial was solicited, the testimonial is still accepted. If there is a lexicon violation, or if the Alert on All Testimonials setting is Enabled, it is still routed to Compliance for review.
Disabled: Testimonials marked as solicited get a Rejected Testimonial Language comment (Facebook) or are hidden (LinkedIn) and trigger a compliance review.
Allow Non-Client Testimonials
Enabled: If the advisor/agent disclosed that the testimonial came from someone who isn’t a client, the testimonial is still accepted. If there is a lexicon violation, or if the Alert on All Testimonials setting is Enabled, it is still routed to Compliance for review.
Disabled: Testimonials from a non-client get a Rejected Testimonial Language comment (Facebook) or are hidden (LinkedIn) and trigger a compliance review.
Allow Conflict-of-Interest Testimonials
Enabled: If the advisor/agent disclosed that the testimonial is a conflict of interest, the testimonial is still accepted. If there is a lexicon violation, or if the Alert on All Testimonials setting is Enabled, it is still routed to Compliance for review.
Disabled: Testimonials that involve a conflict of interest get a Rejected Testimonial Language comment (Facebook) or are hidden (LinkedIn) and trigger a compliance review.
Accepted Testimonial Language (Facebook only)
Text of the comment that is automatically left on Facebook reviews that have been accepted based on Compliance decision and/or the configured rules, up to 520 characters.
Example: Thank you for the review. I attest that this review is from a client at the time of review, and that they were not paid, nor had a conflict of interest with me.
Rejected Testimonial Language (Facebook only)
Text of the comment that is automatically left on Facebook reviews that have been rejected based on the Compliance decision and/or the configured rules, up to 520 characters.
Example: I cannot accept this review due to SEC regulations.