Disclosure 101: New FTC resources for social media influencers

Are you an influencer working with brands to recommend or endorse products or services on social media? Or you might be an advertiser who uses influencers in your marketing. The FTC just released the publication you need to know: Disclosure 101 for Social Media Influencers. That’s not all. To accompany the booklet, the FTC has also released a new video to help simplify influencers and advertisers’ efforts to comply with the law.

The publication is new, but it breaks down compliance information into established basics. If you endorse a product or service through social media, your endorsement message should be obvious when you develop a relationship (“physical connection”) with the brand. What is “material connection”? It can be a personal, family, employment or financial relationship – for example, if a brand pays you or provides you with free or discounted products.

Social Media Influencer Disclosure 101 discusses when to disclose, how to disclose, and what else influencers need to know. It also answers what influencers think:

• How do disclosure requirements apply to images, videos and live streams?
• What about tags, likes and pins?
• What wording effectively reveals a substantive connection?
• What about influencers who post from outside the United States?
• What if a person has no relationship with the brand and just tells others about a product they purchased and happen to like?
• Is it fair to assume that the platform’s disclosure tools are good enough? (Spoiler alert: No, that won’t work.)

How do you use this new resource?

Read the manual. “Social Media Influencer Exposed 101” focuses on the nuts and bolts and very little on the legal mumbo jumbo. Influencers can learn the basics in just ten minutes. If you work for an advertiser, PR firm, or agency that frequently works with influencers, grab a free copy from the FTC bulk order site to share with your team, use it to supplement your training efforts, and then monitor where influencers are at in your What is done on the website represents.

Share what you know. Influencers and the brands that use them should expect everyone to adhere to the same established standards of truth in advertising. Introduce new publications to your network and discuss them at industry events. Looking for more resources? Visit ftc.gov/influencers.

Watch the video. To accompany the manual, the FTC created a video to explain some compliance basics. Use it as a training refresher.