Itâs been three years since
I wrote about influencer tips so I thought itâd be a nice revisit on the basics. Iâve seen quite a few social media posts now where either the influencers or brands or both werenât disclosing their relationships.Â
Earlier this month, the
FTC sent out official warnings to over 700 brands about their use of fake reviews. Fake reviews include using an endorsement to make deceptive performance claims, not disclosing a relationship with an influencer, and misrepresenting the influencerâs experience as one of an ordinary customerâs.
The FTC has a
comprehensive guide on endorsements, it is worth bookmarking for your next influencer campaign. The guide provides advice for regular consumers, individual influencers, and companies. The FTC also published a
disclosure guide specifically for digital marketing.
Here are some highlights:
- For influencers, disclosure needs to be âclear and conspicuous.â The small âin partnershipâ line above an IG post might not be enough so adding #ad or something similar above the âmoreâ line in a caption is recommended. In stories, the text canât be hidden away somewhere.
- Businesses are also on the hook for disclosures and it does not matter if you use a PR firm. I am emphasizing this because Iâve seen PR firms not remind influencers about the disclosure need and their brand clients not follow up on any influencers. âAdvertisers need to have reasonable programs in place to train and monitor members of their network.âÂ
- A relationship with a brand does not have to mean cash was exchanged. It also includes if youâve been given a free product, a discount code to use, or given cash in the form of a gift card to purchase a product.
- Yes, this includes giveaways.
The FTC is in the US so if youâre outside of it, you should check on your countryâs laws regarding influencer disclosures.
Another way of thinking about it is this: if someone is gushing effusively about a product, would knowing that they were given the product for free or at a discount affect your perception of the review? Just disclose.Â
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