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Yes, that title was a little long, but I wanted to make certain I had your attention. As the majority of you may be aware ( or should be, at least ) yesterday new FTC regulations came into effect concerning the use of testimonials and endorsements in advertising. Plenty of the new rules directly impact on internet-based marketers, so I determined to go straight to the source to see precisely what this would mean for me ( and for you, my readers ).

I went to http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm and essentially read through the entire 12 page guide particularly 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 matter of endorsements. The FTC specifically states that endorsements must reflect the truthful views, observations, beliefs, or experience of the endorser. This part may seem pretty easy, but how they define 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 that the FTC is using is substantiation of representations conveyed. What this suggests is that you have 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 pick out the best results out of the bunch to focus on. It is a natural thing to do.

But now, no longer can you say, about a weight loss product, for instance, Lose twenty pounds in 2 weeks! just because one of your customers did. Now, any claims you make need 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 typical disclaimer, either the FTC has deemed that disclaimers didn’t adequately scale back the communication that the experiences outlined are sometimes representative. In English, that implies that even if you are saying that results aren’t standard in details, it does not change the indisputable fact that you’re giving the impression in the big giant title that everyone could lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks.

Keep reading the rest about NEW FTC Requlations…

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