All Okendo merchants sharing a referral link must comply with the truth-in-advertising guidelines as set forth by the Federal Trade Commission:
Advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive;
Advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims; and
Advertisements cannot be unfair.
This may sound intimidating, but you just need to follow a few easy rules!
1. When you use your referral link, make it clear that you'll earn credit if someone uses it to sign up.
The FTC guidelines require that any links you materially benefit from are properly disclosed. This guideline ensures that when someone clicks on the link, they know that not only do they get an extended free trial, but you also earn credit on your bill.
You can make it as simple as adding something like, “this link gives you an extended 30-day free trial and I earn account credit!”
You must make sure the disclosure is:
Close to the link that you’re sharing. You can disclose this information before, next to, or directly after you share the link.
Do not hide the disclosure at the bottom of a page
Do not place the disclosure in a separate link (for example, do not say “click here to read my disclosure statement”)
In an easy-to-read or easy-to-understand format. If you are writing about Okendo, don’t try to hide the disclosure in a small font or a hard-to-read color. For video or podcast endorsements, speak clearly and in an easy-to-hear voice.
The ultimate goal is to make sure that a reasonable person, when seeing your referral link, understands that you'll benefit from them using it.
2. Don’t make up false claims to try to entice people to use your referral link.
If you love Okendo enough to share it with your friends, let them know the real reasons you’re so excited about the product! Talk about the world-class customer service, the simple review collection, the improvements to your customer’s experience - whatever it is you love about Okendo!
It's important that you don’t stretch the truth to get people to use your link. You’re already offering a great extended free trial - you don't need to embellish!
And when it comes to your personal experience, don’t make up unrealistic stats - which leads us to...
3. Share proof of your growth.
If you’ve experienced an increase in repeat customers, an improvement in review collection, or an increase in conversion rate, let your friends know! Just make sure to back it up with proof.
Part of keeping advertising from being misleading is to share your honest experience with Okendo. You can share screenshots from your analytics or Okendo dashboard if you’re comfortable doing so or you can reference your growth - as long as you can back it up if asked. Don’t exaggerate and say that you saw 100x increase in reviews when you actually only saw 5x.
For more information about FTC guidelines, you can read the FTC’s Online Endorsements FAQ or download the .com Disclosures ebook.