Looking for our Social Media Release Form Template? Go here.

Have you ever provided a testimonial for another business owner in written, audio or video form?
Have you ever had your photograph taken at a conference or event?
What about a recording taken from a webinar you attended that is part of the promotion for an upcoming event?

If you already do this in your business, or want to in the future, then you really need a social media release form.

It's good business practice to have photographs or video footage taken of yourself and your attendees at an event, whether that’s a conference, a retreat, online webinar or otherwise. Imagery of people attending your event or even their photograph and a testimonial on social media helps your target audience get a picture of who you are and what they’re missing out on. It can go a long way in helping draw awareness to how others are working with your and your business and benefiting from it. But why do you need a social media release form?

If you own a business and you publish any type of content online across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest or even Google Business Profile, you should seek authorisation from a person or business to use their image, brand, video, voice or testimonial in connection with yours. Not just a verbal okay or a reply email but a legal document in the form of a social media release.

I use this content now and it’s not an issue so why should I bother with a social media release form?

If your social media release form is drafted correctly, once you have a signed release from anyone whose image or voice you want to use, you can edit, publish, reproduce or change the content as you wish. Many of you reading this will have heard of the phrase ‘repurposing’ in relation to marketing. Essentially this means taking the resources you have and leveraging them by reusing them in different ways.

Some examples: 

• Taking the audio from a podcast interview and layering that audio sound bite over an image or other video footage for publishing on social media or on web page

• Taking a comment from a social media post or group forum and turning it into a testimonial for social media

• Taking a clip from video footage and using it to promote an upcoming event, product or service

• Taking a clip from video footage and using it as a testimonial on a sales page

• Taking a photograph of your webinar attendees on screen and sharing it on socials

While this is only a snapshot of repurposing, it shows that you need the freedom to be able to use the content you have in a variety of ways without issue. You also need free reign to add that video or images to a collation or larger video for use elsewhere. For example, distributed to media outlets or through other partnership avenues.

But what is the big risk of not having a social media release form signed, really?

What happens if you don’t get a signed social media release form?

We’ve had numerous clients face situations where people have raised an issue with the use of their image, name, brand or voice in a variety of contexts. Here are the most common:

1. “I don’t like how I look/sound”

Often people dislike how they look in an image or in video footage and if you have no social media release form in place, it can be hard to say no to the request. Likewise when someone doesn’t like the audio snippet you’ve selected and shared. Whereas, if you had those people sign your event terms and conditions or your podcast terms and conditions and ensured all participants or guests have completed a social media release form, then you have made it clear from the outset that they have provided authorisation prior to the event. While you don’t want to upset participants or clients, you also don’t want to have to face the subsequent issues that so often follow on.

2. “I would like to be paid, thank you very much!”

Sometimes, when someone has a profile that has a degree of power or pull with your target audience, they often will want payment or a cut in exchange for the use of their image and voice, particularly where they are an ambassador and get paid by others to do the same. While it can be great to have people who hold trust and authority with your target market, you’ll want to ensure they’ve agreed to your social media release form terms beforehand or face having to pay them or remove them entirely.

3. “I don’t want people to perceive I have an affiliation with ‘that business’”

Another issue that can arise, particularly when at a conference or industry event, is when people do not want to be connected or seen to be affiliated with someone else. For example, where there might be a photograph or video footage of them and their competitor in the same shot, or video footage or their quote alongside someone else’s who they do not want to be seen to be in alignment with or connected to in any way. We’ve seen this trigger a request for any content with their presence in it to be removed from all marketing materials. 

And all of these requests create the issue of a need to remove, re-edit, re-publish and re-promote.

The consequences of not having a social media release

Let’s face it. The reason you spend money getting images at events is so you can use this type of content at your discretion, however you want. Because you have likely paid someone, whether it be a photographer, videographer or even an employee to capture those moments.  Having to re-edit requires additional time and money, and potentially a new strategy. 

If you’ve shared audio, images and videos on a website, in ads, on Instagram or any other social media platform, all of the affected content would need to be pulled down and for all of that process to start again, derailing your well laid plans. And, there’s also the risk of you having to do it all over again if anyone else wants their presence removed later on. 

Not everyone is comfortable with their image being shared online or their testimonial being shared far and wide, so cover your bases and ensure you either have a comprehensive social media release form in place or that people can opt into as a condition of registration that include this important element.

We know that not having permission has damaged relationships between people and their extended networks. And while you may not hear about people having these types of issues, know that they are mostly dealt with very privately. We’ve seen business owners go through great stress over issues relating to the use of other people’s name, brand and businesses. It’s not something they want to go through again.

While of course you need to consider your reputation and be mindful of context issues when you are working with using other people’s words, audio and image, you also want to be able to have the freedom to be able to repurpose and edit this type of content without losing momentum.

Social media needn’t create you headaches. Ensure that all your hard work can be put to good use!

Related Articles: The top 5 avoidable problems podcasters face 

Event Waivers: Reducing liability for your retreat, workshop, experience or training event

We have created a social media release form template that is suitable for a range of applications like those specific to social media above. You can purchase it once, download it, and use it consistently. You can find the template here.

If you run events, take a look at our event terms and conditions templates here.

If you are unsure if either of these will not cover you because you have especially complex or very specific needs, you can book a call with me to discuss the nature of your business and what you facilitate.