You will be able to tell which marketing activity needs your firm's approval before it goes out.
Daniel writes an Instagram post on a Sunday night. It is a photo of a hospital corridor with the caption: "A friend's dad just got a S$60,000 bill. Our new hospital plan would have covered most of it. DM me to find out how." He thinks it is helpful, true and likely to get replies. His manager sees it on Monday morning and asks him to take it down. It mentions a product, implies a claim outcome, and was never approved. All three are problems.
Financial advisory firms and insurers control what their representatives publish, because anything a representative says in public about products or the firm can mislead people, and the firm answers for it. So most firms require approval for any material that mentions products, returns or the firm itself before it goes out.
That covers more than people expect. Printed brochures and flyers you design yourself. Presentation slides for a talk. Paid ads on social platforms. And social posts, including on your personal accounts, if they mention a product, a feature, a price, a return or the firm. Some firms also have rules about using the firm's name or logo at all, or about which platforms representatives may use for business.
The exact rules are your firm's, so read its marketing policy. Lesson 1.4, Read the register and your firm's rulebook, asked you to note the marketing section and the approval lead time, and this is the lesson where that note earns its place.
Some content gets a closer look than the rest, because it is especially easy to mislead with.
Testimonials. A client saying "Daniel helped me get my claim paid in a week" suggests every claim will go that way, and may share details the client did not mean to make public, which is why many firms restrict or prohibit them.
Projected returns. Any figure about what a product might earn invites a reader to treat it as a promise. Firms and regulators set strict rules on how projections may be shown, if at all.
Comparisons with competitors. Saying your plan is cheaper or better than another insurer's needs to be accurate, fair and complete, which is very hard in a social post. Most firms will want to see the basis for any comparison.
Daniel's post had a version of all three: an implied claim outcome from a friend's story, a dollar figure, and the suggestion that this plan would have done the job. Even if every word was true, it was the kind of material his firm's policy said must go through approval.
Roadshows and booths in malls, offices and community spaces are a common way for representatives to meet people, and they have their own rules. Your firm will set out what you may say to members of the public, what materials you may hand out, what you may collect from people and how you record it, and how to handle someone who wants advice on the spot.
Pay particular attention to what you collect. A sign-up form for a lucky draw collects personal data, so it needs to say clearly what the data will be used for, and the PDPA points from lesson 6.1, DNC, PDPA and the contact list you inherited, apply. A person who signs up for a lucky draw has not agreed to a sales call unless the form said so.
Also watch the line between general conversation and advice at a booth. A passer-by who asks "Should I get this plan?" is asking for a recommendation, and you cannot make one properly without a fact-find, so the right answer is to offer a proper meeting.
There is a simple way to stay useful online without waiting a week for every post. Post general education, and keep product talk for a proper meeting.
General education explains how something works without promoting a product. A post about what MediShield Life is designed to cover, with a pointer to the official page. A short explanation of the difference between term and whole life insurance, with no plan names. A reminder to check CPF nominations after marriage. Posts like these build your reputation as someone who explains things clearly, and they give people a reason to contact you.
Even education can stray. If your explainer ends with "DM me for our new plan", it has become a product post. And some firms require approval for any post that mentions the firm or your role, even if it is educational, so check your own policy. Many representatives find it easiest to submit a month of educational posts for approval at once.
Daniel rewrites his post as an explainer on what a hospital bill can include and how to check what your existing cover pays, with no figures, no plan name and no story about a friend. He submits it for approval anyway, because it names his role, and posts it a week later.
The difference between a post that needs approval and one that does not is often a single sentence, and you get faster at spotting it with practice. In the activity below you draft three posts, one purely educational and two that mention a need your products meet, and mark which ones your firm would want to approve first.
Draft three social posts, one educational and two that mention a need your products meet, and mark which would need approval at your firm.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).