Today, Dec. 1, the FTC’s new Endorsement Guidelines officially go into effect. If you’re a marketer tapping into the power of social media, word of mouth or advocacy programs, this isn’t something to be taken lightly.
Here are some tips for thinking about whether or not your programs are in compliance.
When we started BzzAgent 8 years ago, we had the wise idea to develop a team of ‘Communications Developers’ who could act as stewards of great Word of Mouth behavior. We now have 100 people on staff who review, analyze and respond to word of mouth reports. Many mocked the business case of the ‘labor’ of these individuals, as an undue burden. Now, with the FTC Guides in effect, these folks have been ultimately validated as a critical asset to BzzAgent. As they’re now armed with everything there is to know about the FTC Guides and compliance, we’ve renamed them the Compliance Assurance Team (CAT) and are allowing marketers to utilize our expertise for any social media or word of mouth programs (not just ours). See how below…
Many thanks for posting this.
Too few people realise the gravity of these regulations.