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.Posts Tagged ‘disclosure’
FTC Regulations and your web site
In October 2009, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced new regulations which went into effect in early December. The following is my understanding of them from reading articles and attending a webinar. For specific questions and concerns, please contact your attorney.
The intent of these regulations is to further protect consumers from deceptive or misleading advertising. What it means for anyone with a business, and particularly a web site or blog, is that a greater level of transparency is now required. Not only must you tell the truth, you must disclose what you define the truth to be.
For example, if you use testimonials on your web site, which are commonly considered aspirational, it’s no longer enough to add the disclaimer “Results not typical.” Now you must state what the typical results would be. If you are using quantifiable data (i.e. “I lost 30 pounds” or “Using these methods I made $1000″), you must have data to support that the average user can expect to do/achieve the same results. Does this mean you shouldn’t use testimonials? No, it just means that your most outstanding ones can’t be touted. This isn’t necessarily as bad as it seems. If you do the research to determine the results your clients get, re-framing it can be just as, or even more, powerful. Perhaps you’ll be able to say something like, “95% of our clients are pleased with their results” or “over 70% of users report a loss of 5% of their body weight.”
Another key point is material connection – you must clearly indicate if you have a connection to/with the product, service or person you are promoting. Are you an affiliate and the links in your review are your affiliate links? Say so up front. Did you receive free product for your review? State that. Are you in any kind of business relationship or joint venture with the other person on your call/webinar? Let your audience know in a clear manner. This need not be delivered in a banner declaration but can be done in a more conversational manner (i.e. John and I work together in…)
The third key point is somewhat related and can be called engagement. If you are providing a review of a product or service, you must be (or have been at the time) an active user of that product or service. If you aren’t, you must say so and not be providing quantifiable type results. Again, this needs to be made clear but doesn’t need to be shouted. As an example, I do a lot of research for my clients so I may be in a position to share with someone else what I’ve learned about a product. If I’m not using, I can preface my sharing with “I haven’t used it myself but here’s what I found in researching it…”
Lastly is the issue of continuity. You must make a reasonable effort to ensure that anyone who gave you a testimonial still feels that way. There are no clear guidelines as yet to how often this needs to be done but common sense would dictate that you need to do so before you create new materials, update your web site significantly, or want to quote it in an auditory venue such as a teleseminar, webinar or live event.
If you use affiliates to market your products or services, or you are an affiliate for others, you need to be aware that these regulations allow recourse against both of you. Is your affiliate using quantifiable claims on their site? Even if you are not, you can be held liable, and vice-versa. Again, this doesn’t mean that such relationships should be discontinued but does provide an opportunity for partnership discussions around marketing approaches and clarifying parameters.
There are tools and resources available to help you understand and work within these new guidelines. The following sites can get you started; and no, they are not affiliate links nor have I used their products. 
