Have You Heard of the FTC? You Absolutely Must Read This Now!
Yes, that title was a little long, but I wanted to make sure I had your attention. As most of you may be aware ( or should be, at least ) yesterday new FTC laws came into effect concerning the use of testimonials and endorsements in advertising. Lots of the new rules directly impact on internet-based marketers, so I made up my mind to go directly to the source to see exactly what this would imply for me ( and for you, my readers ).
I went to http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm and essentially read thru the whole 12 page guide specifically the Fed Trade Commission 16 CFR Part 255 Guides Concerning the use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Here are the highlights as they pertain to us online marketers :
first off , there’s the problem of endorsements. The FTC specifically states that endorsements must reflect the fair views, discoveries, beliefs, or experience of the endorser. This part may appear pretty easy, but how they outline that ‘honesty’ has some gigantic implications about how you can write your sales copy or other advertising or promotion pieces.
The giant term the FTC is using is substantiation of representations conveyed. What this implies is that you have to be in a position to prove ( and back up ) any claims you make. Which I’ve always told you to do, but what’s modified is what they consider explanation. While I’ve always used real examples for my proof, I ( and everyone else ) would naturally pick the best results out of the bunch to highlight. It’s a natural thing to do.
But now, no longer are you able to say, about a weight loss product, for instance, Lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks! because one of your customers did. Now, any claims you make have to be representative of the average experience of the user, not the remarkable ones. And you can’t just cover your butt with a results not characteristic disclaimer, either the FTC has deemed that disclaimers didn’t adequately reduce the communication that the experiences depicted are sometimes representative. In English, that means that even if you say that results aren’t typical in details, it doesn’t change the incontrovertible fact that you are giving the impression in the big giant strap line that everyone could lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks.
Keep reading the rest about New FTC Regulations…
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Tags: affiliate marketing, Content Creation, FTC regulations