Influencer Marketing
FTC Disclosure
The US requirement that creators clearly label sponsored content (e.g. #ad, #sponsored) so audiences know when they're seeing a paid promotion.
What it means
The Federal Trade Commission requires that any material connection between a creator and a brand, payment, free product, an affiliate commission, a family relationship, gets disclosed clearly and prominently. Vague hashtags buried in a wall of other tags, like #sp, don't meet the bar. Disclosure needs to be obvious before someone engages with the content, not something they dig for.
Examples
- •A creator writes '#ad' as the first hashtag in a caption, not buried among twenty others.
- •A YouTuber states 'this video is sponsored by...' in the first 30 seconds.
- •An Instagram Story uses the built-in 'Paid Partnership' label along with a written disclosure.
Use cases
- •Every sponsored post, video, or story, regardless of platform or payment size.
- •Affiliate links where the creator earns a commission, even without a direct brand payment.
- •Free product reviews, which still count as a material connection requiring disclosure.
Why it matters
Non-compliance exposes both the creator and the brand to FTC enforcement action. Beyond the legal risk, audiences increasingly penalize creators who hide sponsorships. Transparent disclosure tends to preserve trust instead of eroding it.