Marketing Your Business Online: A Legal Guide (2025 Updated)

Marketing your business online is becoming increasingly important in 2025. It’s an excellent way to connect with your target audience, attract new customers, and grow your business sustainably across digital channels.

But what does online marketing mean for your business’ legals? When you market your business, products or services online, it is essential you understand your legal obligations. There are a few major areas to review to ensure your processes meet contemporary regulatory standards.

In this article, we’ll run through a comprehensive checklist of everything you need to know about online marketing in 2025:

Your responsibilities and obligations when advertising online
Safeguarding your customers’ personal information and complying with the Privacy Act 2020 updates
Avoiding spam and ensuring your electronic communications meet legal requirements
Properly using and protecting your business’ intellectual property (IP), and ensuring you don’t infringe someone else’s IP (trade mark vs copyright)

Navigating The World Of Advertising

Online advertising remains a highly effective method to promote your business. With innovative platforms emerging in 2025, you can now capture the attention of potential customers and build strong brand awareness. Utilising modern digital analytics and social media marketing techniques can help your business stand out, whether you’re entering new markets or consolidating your existing customer base.

However, there are regulatory limits on the ways in which you can advertise. It is crucial to understand these restrictions to avoid breaching the law and risking penalties or fines. For a detailed guide on your advertising responsibilities, you might wish to explore our legal essentials for business resources.

Avoid False Or Misleading Statements

When promoting your business, it is crucial that every piece of information you share is true, accurate, and substantiateable. Consumer law in 2025 continues to prohibit false or misleading statements regarding the quality, value, origin, or price of your goods or services—even if disclaimers appear in the fine print.

For example, if ABC Coffee advertises their coffee beans as coming from a single origin while the fine print notes that the beans are a blend, this inconsistency is unlikely to save them from claims of misleading advertising. The law expects clarity and honesty in all promotional communications.

Managing Online Reviews

Online reviews continue to play a significant role in purchase decisions. Platforms like review management tools help consumers decide whether to choose your product or service. However, as a business owner, you must actively manage these reviews to ensure that they are genuine and not misleading.

If you discover fake reviews—perhaps written by competitors, employees, or individuals with undisclosed connections—it is your legal duty to remove them promptly to comply with consumer protection laws. For additional tips on monitoring reviews, you might want to read our guide on dealing with negative online reviews.

Here are a couple of tips for spotting fake or misleading reviews:

1. Look at who wrote it

Reviews that appear to be written by:

Your staff or someone associated with your business
A competitor or one of their employees
Individuals who have been paid or influenced to write favourable reviews without using the product or service
People who are overly positive in a generic or marketing-driven language

If family members or friends are writing reviews, ensure they disclose their connection to your business as this maintains transparency under consumer laws.

2. Analyse similar account details or language styles

Be wary if multiple reviews for your business are written by accounts with similar usernames, email addresses, or IP addresses, or if the language appears overly uniform or laden with marketing jargon.

Can You Offer Incentives In Exchange For A Review?

If you offer incentives, ensure they are available to all customers regardless of whether the review is positive or negative. This transparency prevents any perception of bias and avoids misleading consumers, as required under current consumer protection laws.

What If Your Business Has A Commercial Relationship With A Review Platform?

If you have a commercial relationship with a review platform, it is wise to disclose this relationship. This transparency prevents consumers from being misled, especially if the platform uses algorithms to prioritise certain reviews. Such disclosures enable your customers to make informed decisions.

You can read more about managing online reviews and ensuring transparency here.

Using Social Media To Advertise

Social media remains a vital tool for businesses of all sizes to interact with and engage their audience. Platforms continue to evolve, and in 2025, leveraging social media effectively can set you apart from competitors. For more insights, check out our article on making money from social media.

Remember, all consumer protection laws applicable to traditional advertising also apply on social media. It is your responsibility to ensure that your posts, advertisements, and responses are truthful and not misleading. You may also be held liable for user-generated content on your business pages.

For example, if a disparaging comment on your Facebook page about one of your products is clearly untrue and could mislead other consumers, you need to address it promptly. Failing to remove such content may be considered a breach of consumer protection laws.

While social media often presents a casual façade, ensure your statements remain as clear and legally compliant as those in any formal advertisement. Regularly review your social media pages and remove any content that could be construed as false or misleading.

Offering Prizes & Giveaways On Social Media

It is very common in 2025 for brands to offer prizes and giveaways on social media to increase reach. However, you must be clear about what you are offering and the chances of winning. All terms and conditions must be disclosed upfront.

Safeguarding Customer Information & Privacy

Ensuring the privacy of your customers remains a top priority. In New Zealand, if your business collects any data from website users, you are required to have a robust Privacy Policy to comply with the updated Privacy Act. Even if you do not legally require a policy, it’s a best practice for building customer trust and will be essential as your business expands.

A Privacy Policy should clearly outline how your business collects, manages, stores, uses, and discloses personal information. It is not only a legal requirement but also a reassurance to your customers that their data is handled responsibly.

What Is The GDPR?

The internet has no borders, and if your business has customers in Europe, especially within the EU, you must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This regulation applies to any data collected from EU individuals, even if processed elsewhere. With global commerce thriving in 2025, ensuring GDPR compliance can often be achieved by aligning with stringent New Zealand privacy standards—with a few supplementary adjustments.

If your business already meets New Zealand’s privacy requirements, you’re off to a good start in satisfying GDPR requirements, though it is advisable to have a lawyer review your policies to ensure full international compliance.

Direct Marketing And Electronic Communications

Generally, your business cannot lawfully use personal information for direct marketing unless an exemption under the Privacy Act applies. One key exemption is when you have directly collected the information and the individual reasonably expects it to be used for marketing purposes.

If you choose to contact customers directly through electronic communications such as email, SMS, or MMS, be aware of your obligations under the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 (UEMA), which continues to govern these practices in 2025.

Do You Have Consent?

Before sending any marketing messages, ensure you have explicit consent from the recipient. This is typically obtained via sign-up forms where individuals actively agree to receive communications from you. Maintaining clear records of when and how consent was provided is essential for compliance.

What Does Your Message Need To Include?

Under the UEMA, every electronic marketing message must clearly identify your business. This means including your business name—ideally in the ‘from’ field, subject line, and within the message body—as well as your website and contact information.

This requirement applies equally to SMS and MMS messages, ensuring that your identity is unmistakably visible.

Is There A Way To Opt Out?

Each commercial message must include a clear and easy method for recipients to unsubscribe or opt out from further communications. Common practices include:

A link at the bottom of emails directing customers to an unsubscribe page
A prompt in SMS or MMS messages allowing recipients to reply with “STOP” to opt out

Quick tip: Without explicit permission, your emails are more likely to be marked as spam, which may harm your reputation and the deliverability of your messages.

To learn more about the differences between direct marketing and spam, feel free to check out our detailed guide here, or contact one of our experienced lawyers.

What About Cold Calling?

If customers have provided you with their phone numbers, you are permitted to call them for marketing purposes. However, it is crucial to ensure that you check numbers against the most recent ‘Do Not Call Register’. Calling a number on this register can result in significant fines.

Consider using a subscription-based service to verify numbers, ensuring compliance before making any calls. Additionally, restrict your calls to appropriate times—between 9am and 8pm on weekdays, between 9am and 5pm on Saturdays, and never on Sundays or public holidays.

Posting Flyers

While digital channels dominate in 2025, traditional marketing methods such as posting flyers still have their place. However, the rules remain strict:

Flyers should be distributed only directly into mailboxes, and never used as littering agents by placing them on car windscreens, fences, or outside front doorsteps, as this could result in fines.

Additionally, respect any ‘no junk mail’ notices on mailboxes in accordance with the industry’s code of practice.

Intellectual Property Considerations

Intellectual Property (IP) is a vital asset for any business looking to thrive in 2025. Your business name, logo, and branding elements are key to distinguishing your services. It’s imperative to both protect your IP and use third-party IP correctly.

Copyright laws in New Zealand automatically protect unique material as soon as it’s fixed in a tangible medium, meaning you do not have to register copyright. However, trade marks require formal registration. A registered trade mark gives you exclusive rights and prevents others from using your distinctive business identifiers. For further clarity, see our discussion on the differences between copyright and trade marks.

We also recommend that you keep an eye on potential infringement of your IP. Monitoring tools and regular searches can alert you if a similar trade mark has been registered by another entity. This proactive approach is crucial in safeguarding your brand’s reputation in a competitive marketplace.

Protecting Your Business Name, Logo And Other Branding Assets

Securing your business’ IP protects its exclusive use and prevents unauthorised exploitation. In New Zealand, whilst copyright is automatic, a trade mark must be registered to afford robust protection. Registering your trade mark provides you with exclusive rights for up to 10 years, which you can renew indefinitely.

Before registering, ensure you conduct thorough searches to avoid infringing existing trade marks. For assistance with this process, our team provides expert advice on trade mark registration and IP protection.

What About Your Website Domain?

Your domain name is integral to your online identity. Typically, it will coincide with your business name and form the cornerstone of your online presence. In New Zealand, domain names are leased for fixed periods. Failing to renew on time may result in losing your domain, which can have serious implications for brand reputation and customer access.

Registering your trade mark can also help in disputes over domain names that are substantially similar to your business name.

Can You Use Music In Your Marketing Activities?

Using music in your marketing, such as in video advertisements, requires careful consideration of copyright. In New Zealand, you will need to obtain a licence from APRA AMCOS to use copyrighted music legally. This applies to all channels including online videos, social media posts, and digital advertisements.

Want To Find Out More?

This article has covered an extensive range of issues surrounding online marketing in 2025—from ensuring your advertising meets legal standards, through updating your privacy policy, to protecting your intellectual property. At Sprintlaw, our team of approachable and experienced lawyers is ready to help you navigate these complex legal landscapes.

If you would like a consultation on which legal steps are best for your business or need help drafting documents such as a website Terms & Conditions or a comprehensive Privacy Policy, you can reach us at 0800 002 184 or [email protected] for a free, no-obligation chat.

Additionally, check out our guides on setting up a business with partners and online business privacy for more detailed advice on managing your legal obligations in today’s digital age.

Kayleigh Yap

Kayleigh is a graduate in Arts and Law from the University of New South Wales. With an interest in human rights and intellectual property law, she has experience working in communications and marketing for small businesses and not-for-profits.

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