The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the American agency that prevents anticompetitive business practices and promotes consumer protection, has recently updated the guidelines for disclosing paid sponsorships with social media Influencers.
According to it, Influencers have to state their relationship with the brands with greater transparency. How? You can look at the mini guide created by the FTC or read on: we have selected the main changes that may affect you too!
Influencers and transparency
From now on, the key word for Influencers is clarity: if you promote or mention products, discounts or services according to a partnership with a brand, you shouldn’t try to hide the advertising nature of the content.
Here is what to do and not to do when you publish a sponsored post instead:
Do’s:
- Make sure that the branded mention is clearly visible, at the beginning of the post and in a simple and direct language.
- Insert your relationship with the brand also in visual content such as Snapchat videos or Instagram Stories and give people the time to see it. On YouTube, make sure the tag is in the audio and video – preferably not at the and – and not only inside the description. In a live stream, the mention should be stated throughout, as people can join the video at different times.
Don’ts:
- Don’t limit the disclosure of the partnership to your bio
- Don’t insert a disclosure within a long series of hashtags or at the end of a long caption that requires to be expanded. Your audience should see it straight away!
- Avoid vague terms like “sp”, “spon”, “collab” or just a “thank you”, “ambassador”, “partner”, but be more explicit by using hashtags as #(BRAND)Ambassador or #(BRAND)Partner.
Here at Buzzoole, we approve these guidelines and hope you’ll do the same. Indeed, a simple and direct communication made in the right place at the right time is not only necessary to comply with the new Influencer Marketing rules but also to increase the relationship of honesty and trust with your own audience.
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