Mom Bloggers – Stricter Guidelines than Celebs and Journos

Last month, our CEO and founder Stacy DeBroff published an article in Media Post, focusing on Mom Bloggers and FTC guidelines.  She wrote:

Because blogs offer the potential of powerful first-person brand ambassadorship, they have emerged as a key way to ignite consumers. More and more brands want to expose bloggers to their products and services in the hope they will post favorable reviews… With blogger’s increased rise in audience and sway comes increased FTC scrutiny.

With bloggers garnering so much attention from brands, agencies and the FTC, we wanted to better understand their perspective.  Last week, we asked Mom Bloggers directly how they feel about the FTC guidelines, how they changed their blogging habits and how brands can best work with them to connect with Moms. Though I’m in the midst of analyzing the results, I thought I’d share some quick prelims:

• 83% of Mom Bloggers believe they now have stricter disclosure guidelines than celebs.
• 68% of Mom Bloggers believe they have stricter guidelines than journalists.
• Nearly half of Mom Bloggers engage in sponsored tweets.
• Finally, though most Mom Bloggers have not changed their blogging disclosures as a result of the guidelines, they do feel more vulnerable to IRS audits.

Stay tuned:  Part II of “Mom Bloggers and FTC” published by Media Post, and the complete Mom Blogger report, will be available 2/10/10.

Tracey Hope-Ross

Pregnant mama who tells stories & believes in magic. Infatuated with Bergman & Bacall. Secret crush: Gregory Peck. I dance often to Billie Holiday, follow my heart, love yoga, & digging in the dirt.