Companies such as and already pay social influencers with large bases of followers to tweet about promotional products--often without disclosing the sponsorship. Facebook recently began " after one company complained that . Shortly thereafter, Facebook admitted that .

If you engage in shady social marketing practices, you're not only risking FTC fines, but consumer backlash as well. Remember the brouhaha around the legions of Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich?

The About.com Trust Factor report claims that a company's transparency--clear motives and obviously labeled promotional posts--go a long way toward trust that users place in a business. Eighty-four percent of those surveyed said they needed to trust a company before interacting with it.

The takeaway? Think long and hard before engaging in black hat "like-farming" social media campaigns, and carefully vet any outside social agencies you might hire to . Your bank account and your reputation both depend on it.