Yes, that title was a little long, but I wanted to make certain that I had your attention. As the majority of you could be aware ( or should be, at least ) yesterday new FTC rules came into effect concerning the utilization of testimonials and endorsements in advertising. A lot of the new rules directly impact on online marketers, so I determined 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 basically read through the entire 12 page guide especially the Fed. Trade Commission 16 CFR Part 255 Guides Concerning the employment 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 truthful opinions, observations, beliefs, or experience of the endorser. This part may seem pretty easy, but how they outline that ‘honesty’ has some big implications about how it’s possible for you to write your sales copy or other advertising or promotion pieces.

The giant term the FTC is using is substantiation of representations conveyed. What this suggests is that you’ve got to be ready to prove ( and back up ) any claims you make. Which I’ve always told you to do, but what’s changed is what they consider proof. While I’ve always used real examples for my evidence, I ( and everyone else ) would naturally choose the best results out of the bunch to focus on. It’s a natural thing to do.

But now, no longer can you say, about a weight loss product, for example, Lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks! just because one of your clients did. Now, any claims you make have to be representative of the average experience of the user, not the phenomenal ones. And you can’t just cover your butt with a results not typical disclaimer, either the FTC has deemed that disclaimers didn’t adequately reduce the communication the experiences depicted are generally representative. In English, that suggests that even if you assert that results arenot typical in small print, 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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