Virtual tips for the savvy business owner!

By now you have likely heard about the new FTC Rulings and how they could affect the way you market yourself, your services and/or your products. The Ruling, which took effect on December 1st, is a step toward ending deceptive marketing tactics.

In the FTC’s efforts to end such aggressive and underhanded schemes it has also made several marketing methods a bit trickier to utilize. Those methods, including: Affiliate Marketing, testimonials, Promotions, and Advertisements can no longer just be cut and pasted from the crème f the crop. These new rulings require businesses to give a clearer picture of what the “Typical” results are and have the data available to back up those claims.

The ideal behind these new rulings is that of transparency. The ability for consumers to more easily see the reality behind the message. What does this mean for you? For starters it means you are going to have to at the least put a notice anywhere you post an affiliate link that you are getting paid for posting that link. If you have a resources page this will be simple as you would only need to put the notice in once for all of the links. If you post those links in social network status posts, it gets a little trickier, but not impossible.

As for the use of testimonials…Many businesses use testimonials to show the potential of their product/service. The ruling means you will have to be a little more honest both with yourself and those who visit your sites about the true “typical” results you provide and there must be sufficient statistical data available to back up those claims should anyone request it. This means more work in the beginning, but it could mean less work down the road as consumers are better able to gauge the best use of your products/services with less interaction from you or your sales team.

The guidelines for advertisements are numerable and if you are concerned that your ads aren’t meeting the new guidelines, it would be advisable to read them for yourself. A full copy of the FTC Guidelines can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/ygcmpfd.

Filed under: Marketing tips, Sales Strategies