On Dec. 1, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission's new rules about conducting business online will go into effect. The rules are focused on improving the accuracy of testimonials and online reviews and reducing deceptive business practices (whether intentional or not).
What does this mean for you? If you post testimonials on your website, they must reflect the typical results. If they're extreme (say one of your customers gets an amazing result that's highly unusual), you can no longer just put 'these results are not typical' in small text. Your testimonials must describe what the average user will experience.
Bloggers who write product reviews will also have new things to consider. If a blogger receives payment or other reward for writing a review, that has to be disclosed on the blog in a way that's very clear and conspicuous.
This is making some bloggers nervous about even casually mentioning a product or service they've used, but the FTC says that advertisers are more likely to be singled out than the majority of bloggers.
Violations of the new rules can result in sanctions and possibly lawsuits.
Here's a link to the FTC's story: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm
How Do You Stay Compliant?
It's pretty simple - don't post a testimonial that doesn't truly reflect the experience that most of your customers will have. And if you're a blogger, think before you post. If you receive anything in exchange for writing about a product or service, mention it in a very conspicuous way.
Testimonials are Still Important!
Don't be afraid of them based on the previous article. I always recommend that clients solicit testimonials from customers - hearing about your company from a third party is often the decision-maker when it comes to choosing one business over another.
Here are a few articles on the importance of testimonials:
- Testimonials: Friend or Foe?
- The Importance of Client Testimonials
- Importance of Client Testimonials and How to Use Them on Your Site
If you're not displaying testimonials on your website, contact Red Kite and we'll help you get started. We can install a script that will display a different testimonial each time the page is loaded, or show them in series like a slideshow. You'll be able to easily add more testimonials using a simple text file.