It’s On You To Comply With FTC Guidelines
Recently the FTC sent letters to 90 Instagram influencers because they failed to properly disclose their relationships to brands when promoting products on the social platform. The FTC sent the letters as an effort to “educate marketers about their responsibilities under truth-in-advertising laws and standards.” You can read the letter here.
As marketers, it is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the FTC guidelines which can be found here.
Ultimately, bloggers and other social media endorsers need to disclose material relationships with brands, in a clear and conspicuous manner. However, both the influencer and the brand have an obligation to be accurate in claims about a product. As a savvy marketer, you will want to take these 5 steps when working with paid influencers:
- Familiarize yourself, your management and your influencers with the guidelines.
- Suggest disclosure language and placement as part of the direction you provide influencers.
- Do not work with influencers who do not want to comply.
- Assign someone to check for compliance once the influencers’ post go live.
- Apply these rules to new platforms as they emerge.
Influencer relations are constantly evolving. Make sure you stay ahead of the curve. Questions? We’re here to help!