HOW TO DECLARE INFLUENCER CONTENT
For brands working with influencers in international markets, it’s essential to be familiar with both the guidelines that pertain to the influencer’s territory and that of their audiences.
Historically, the influencer space has been ruled by hearsay as it organically spread and grew faster than regulators could keep up with. As a result, best practises amongst influencers themselves were driven by consensus and mimicry amongst creators themselves. As the industry has matured, the local advertising regulator has usually stepped into the breach, but there are still markets that haven’t formalised the rules.
Image credit @calliethorpe
There’s also sometimes confusion over which authority an influencer’s content should be covered by. But the US’s FTC (Federal Trade Commission) certainly has an answer for this: “U.S. law applies if it’s reasonably foreseeable that the post will affect U.S. consumers”. So while Australia (an example amongst many others) doesn’t have formal regulation for influencer marketing and disclosure, an Australian influencer would still have to be mindful of their content’s reach in the USA.
Therefore, if content is going to reach the eyes of American consumers (very likely in any situation given the global reach of social media), then it needs to follow the FTC guidelines – but in many countries, English language disclosure is not sufficient.
In answer to this, we’ve put together our cheat sheet to ensuring your disclosure is appropriate, clear, and most importantly, compliant.
Paid Content
AD (with a hashtag or not) should be used upfront in all content, and should be immediately visible – it specifically cannot be added at the end when a consumer will have already absorbed the content, nor disguised or hidden in an image or (in the case of Instagram Stories) obscured by the reply bar or username.
You can always add more context in the rest of the content but AD should be the lead. There are debates whether using the native Paid Partnership functions built into social media platforms (like Instagram and YouTube) is sufficient; the ASA have said that this can be used in addition, but AD is the essential part to ensure content follows regulation.
FTC regulation also specified that influencers can’t talk about their experiences with a product they haven’t actually tried, and that influencers cannot be paid to give a positive review about a product they thought wasn’t any good. This point is nigh on impossible to enforce but a very interesting point to include in their guidance.
Gifting
This pertains to content produced without a contract, guidelines or obligation to post – if there are any of those requirements then content should be marked #AD. #Sponsored is still accepted by the FTC but we would advise against using it as much clearer options exist. The general consensus we’re seeing is to use AD – Gifted or AD – PR Product, which works really well as a commercial association. Gifted as a term has always been well understood by consumers (ASA studies have found), but recently influencers have sought to highlight the hard work that goes into creating content, and have found that “PR Product”/”Sample” identifies items as necessary for their businesses (rather than an actual present), so it’s understandable why this is becoming more popular.
Either way, let’s please do away with “Kindly Gifted” and “Sponsored” (although this is still allowed by the FTC) – it just doesn’t describe the relationship between brand and influencer thoroughly enough.
Affiliate Marketing
Whether you agree with the ASA’s ruling on affiliate marketing (which we wrote about here), the general consensus from other advertising body is that it is to be considered advertising to use affiliate links, and therefore needs to be disclosed.
Each time an affiliate link is used it should be clearly marked, or if a blog post contains all affiliate links then disclosure should be displayed at the very beginning of the piece – so long as it is clear which links are commissionable then that’s compliant.
Disclosure by Territory
Influencer Branded Content Must Include:
Australia: Influencer must disclose, but currently, there are no express legal requirements or rules for influencers or advertisers to abide by with respect to how paid endorsements are disclosed, so we recommend using “Ad”, “Advertisement”, “Paid partnership”.
Brazil: Influencer must disclose, but currently, there are no express legal requirements or rules for influencers or advertisers to abide by with respect to how paid endorsements are disclosed so we recommend using “Ad”, “Advertisement”, “Paid partnership” in addition to #publicidade (advertising).
China: “广告” or “Guǎnggào” (Advertisement). Influencers must also have used the product first-hand and may be called on to prove that they have tested it.
Denmark: “Reklame” (Ad) , “Annonce” (Advertisement)
France: “Publicité” (advertising), “Sponsorisé par” (sponsored by), “En partenariat avec” (in partnership with).
Germany: Instagram: “Werbung” or #Werbung (Advertising) or “Anzeige” (“Advertisement”); YouTube: “Werbevideo” (“Promo video); Blog: “Anzeige” (“Advertisement”) or “Werbung”
Spain: “#Ad” or“ #Publicidad” (advertising).
Italy: “Pubblicità” (Advertisement) or “Promosso da…brand” (Promoted by…brand)
Russia: #направахрекламы (advertisement)
UK: “Ad”, “Advert”, “Paid partnership”
USA: “Ad”, “Advert”, “Paid partnership”
We’re getting to the point that influencers (for the most part) really strive to get their disclosure right, to avoid risking sabotaging their own engagement, potential to earn and relationships with brands. Ultimately, the consensus from the regulatory bodies across the world is that honesty is the best policy – just be clear with your followers and audiences, and don’t hide paid partnerships.