The FTC Compliance

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces federal consumer protection laws that prevent fraud, deception, and unfair business practices. The Commission also enforces federal antitrust laws that prohibit anticompetitive mergers and other business practices that could lead to higher prices, fewer choices, or less innovation.

Whether combatting telemarketing fraud, internet scams, or price-fixing schemes, the FTC’s mission is to protect consumers and promote competition.

The FTC administers a wide variety of laws and regulations, including the Federal Trade Commission Act, Telemarketing Sale Rule, Identity Theft Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and Clayton Act. In total, the Commission has enforcement or administrative responsibilities under more than 70 laws.

Marketing Activities that Can Lead to FTC Compliance Action

If you do the following marketing activities, you are probably at risk of an FTC Compliance Action:

Post specific results that consumers can achieve with your product.

If you’re doing this, you’re making an ad claim, which, according to the FTC, must be proven true with reliable evidence, presenting marketers with a challenge.

Post “Success Story” testimonials from your clients & customers.

According to FTC, posting a positive testimonial from your customer is similar to making an ad claim that your other buyers will get similar results. If you don’t think you can uphold the claim, you’re required to post a disclosure alongside the testimonial for FTC compliance.

• Use Influencers on social media to provide credibility for your promotions.

Offer Continuity billing plans

If you offer auto-renew continuity billing plans or free trials that are automatically upgraded to paid subscriptions after the trial period ends, the legal authorities might be after you. To ensure FTC compliance, make sure you provide your customers with specific disclosures for such billing plans, so they can opt out of an unwanted billing plan and avoid recurring payments.

Other FTC Regulations for Marketing Activities

• If you’re posting videos to compare your products to that of your competitors, make sure you’re using accurate information.
• If you’re using images viral on social media for your advertising, you may get sued for copyright infringement.  
• If you want to incentivize customer testimonials, always do it with a disclosure.
• If you’re an affiliate marketer, make sure you’re not spreading misleading information or false claims just for clicks.

To confidently operate your business, you need simplified explanations of complex FTC Regulations and easy-to-implement risk-avoidance strategies.

That is where Internet Dominators comes in. With our marketing automation software, we provide FTC Guardian Membership to ensure all your marketing activities comply with the FTC regulations. We protect your website and provide customized legal documents for every aspect like Website Protection, Marketing, Promotion, and Intellectual Property. The FTC Guidance offers you the tools to decide how to update your existing documents in response to new legal developments.

We Can Help You Make FTC Your Marketing Asset!

The FTC enforcement has intensified significantly since 2009, and it will continue at this pace in the future. With increasing FTC awareness, customers are becoming savvier with the Privacy regulations and the policies affecting continuity pricing plans, deceptive marketing, and membership sites. If you are an FTC Guardian Member and are authorized to display the Trust Seal, you could gain the trust of your customers and your prospects, inspiring them to buy from you. The FTC Guardian Trust Seal will imply that your business complies with the FTC regulations and standards established for:

• Ad claims
• Ad disclosures
• Continuity plans
• Testimonial disclaimers
• Endorsement disclaimers

Leave your marketing to us, and you won’t ever have to worry about FTC compliance!

Contact us today to learn about our Marketing Automation Software and other services.