I was logging into my Clickbank account today and noticed a message box at the top of the page indicating that as of August 1, 2011 Clickbank had updated the promotional guidelines for Clickbank vendors. I don’t know why I just now noticed this…perhaps it’s because I’m not a vendor, but an affiliate and it doesn’t apply me.
What does this mean? Well according to the message:
As of August 1, 2011, all ClickBank clients are required to comply with our updated Promotional Messaging Guidelines (Product Promotion Guidelines). All new products are immediately subject to these guidelines, and existing promotional materials such as Pitch Pages and affiliate sites must be brought into compliance by August 31, 2011 or may be subject to penalties including account termination.
Looks like these guidelines will effect about 75% plus vendors on Clickbank. It should be real interesting to see how this plays out. I have listed a few highlights of the guidelines below. I’ve never read the guidelines for vendors before so I don’t know which ones have already been in place prior to the update.
Highlights Of The New Clickbank Promotional Guidelines For Vendors:
- Videos pitching products can’t portray a fictional character or life story, where a vendor makes false claims as part of the pitch
- They will not allow videos that do not let the viewer exit or pause
- Vendors must submit a script prior to shooting videos
- They will not allow videos where the vendors makes false statements about his earnings and experience with the product
- If the product is endorsed by a doctor, must have proof of tests and evaluation
- False scarcity will not be allowed: such as saying “only 300 copies left”, when there are unlimited copies
- Sale pricing that suggest the item previously sold at a higher price, when it did not
- Initial product must be a stand alone product of value. Any upsells or downsells must be enhancements to the initial product and not be required for the product to work
- Decline or “No Thank You Links” must be clearly displayed, minimum size 12 font
- They will not allow more than 3 upsells (one time offers) and two exit offers for each sales flow
- They will not allow “As Seen On…” statements without documentation
- Recurring billing products (including TRIALS + one rebill), the rebill schedule and pricing must be displayed clearly and conspicuously
Right now there are numerous violations on Clickbank. I’m sure there are a lot of Clickbank vendors scrambling to change videos, testimonials and sales pages.
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This article was written by Renee Thronson
I'm an affiliate marketer, web site publisher, and retired bartender. My interests are social media, geeky stuff and listening to live music. If you enjoyed this article, you can follow me on Twitter or on Facebook.
Renee has written 7 articles on Renee Thronson.com.
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