Compliance · Social Media
FINRA Social Media Rules
Also known as: Social Media Guidance, Regulatory Notice 11-39
FINRA treats static social media content as a retail communication needing principal approval before use, and unscripted interactive content as a retail communication exempt from pre-approval under Rule 2210(b)(1)(D)(ii), supervised instead like correspondence. Rule 2210 sets the underlying approval and recordkeeping standard. What Regulatory Notice 11-39 adds is the static-versus-interactive distinction that decides which parts of a social channel need sign-off before they go live. Note that 11-39 predates the February 4, 2013 rewrite of Rule 2210, so its "advertisement" and "public appearance" labels come from the superseded NASD rule even though the static-versus-interactive distinction still holds.
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Static vs. interactive content at the channel level
FINRA sorts social media content into two buckets under Regulatory Notice 11-39. Static content is fixed material that stays up until someone changes it. Interactive content is unscripted, real-time back-and-forth. Each bucket carries a different approval standard, and a single channel usually contains both.
| Static content | Interactive content | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Posted material that stays fixed until edited | Real-time, unscripted exchanges |
| Examples | Profile bio, channel description, pinned post, a scheduled video upload | Live chat, comment replies, a Q&A session, a livestream's spoken content |
| Rule 2210 treatment | Retail communication, principal pre-approval required under 2210(b)(1)(A) | Retail communication posted on an online interactive electronic forum, excepted from pre-approval by 2210(b)(1)(D)(ii) and from filing by 2210(c)(7)(M) |
| Principal approval | Required before the earlier of use or filing | Not required before the fact, provided the firm supervises and reviews them as correspondence under Rule 3110(b) and 3110.06 through .09 |
| Supervision method | Pre-use review | Risk-based post-use review, including sampling and keyword search |
Requirements
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Channel setup content | A channel's bio, banner, and pinned content function as static content and need principal approval before the channel goes live |
| Ongoing static posts | Each new static post is its own retail communication requiring the same pre-approval as any other |
| Interactive content becoming static | Content copied from a live chat or comment thread into a static post or pinned location converts it to static content requiring approval |
| Recordkeeping | Both categories are retained under SEA Rule 17a-4; the content, not the format, sets the retention obligation |
What this means for your marketing
Approve the channel before it's public, not just the posts on it. A YouTube channel's about section, banner text, and channel trailer are static content the moment they're visible. Treat channel setup as its own approval item, separate from the individual videos that follow.
Live and scripted content need different review paths. A pre-recorded, uploaded video is static and needs pre-approval like any retail communication. A live Q&A or livestream is interactive and can run on post-use review instead, as long as your supervisory procedures actually document that sampling process.
Don't let a comment reply turn into an unreviewed retail communication. Pinning a strong comment reply, or copying a livestream answer into a static post, converts interactive content into static content. Once that happens, it needs the approval it skipped the first time.
Channel-level static content needs the same pre-approval as any other retail communication.
Mixing scripted and unscripted segments in one broadcast means the two parts can carry different supervisory treatment.
Pinning converts an interactive answer into static content, which resets it back to the pre-approval standard.
Common questions
Primary sources
- Regulatory Notice 11-39, Social Media Websites and the Use of Personal Devices for Business Communicationsstatic vs. interactive content standard
- FINRA Rule 2210, Communications with the Publicunderlying approval and recordkeeping rule
- Social MediaFINRA's current social media guidance hub
Related terms
Daniel Schoester
Founder & CEO
Daniel Schoester combines years of SEO obsession with financial know-how. After receiving an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration (Finance), Daniel began working at a prominent mortgage website, where his content quickly quadrupled monthly traffic to over one million views.
Building on this success, Daniel launched Croton Content to help clients scale through evergreen content assets — notably working with Forbes Advisor, Moneywise, and Hardbacon.
In 2024, Daniel expanded his focus to YouTube after studying Google’s algorithm changes. He noticed YouTube’s increasing alignment with search visibility compared to traditional written SEO content — plus its ability to generate passive revenue and long-term brand authority.
Educational information only. This is not legal or compliance advice. Confirm current requirements with your compliance officer and the primary sources above.