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What You Need To Know On The FTC's New Defined Stance Over Paid Social Media
September 12, 2017
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Monetizing social media is an important stream for any business as we look for different areas of growth.
And with that comes a whole new set of rules we're not always well versed in. Mostly because, in this case, the FTC has often been as gray as the FCC when it comes to what we should and should not say.
But last week, after the FTC settled charges against two social media influencers for not fully disclosing relationships they have with brands they were endorsing, they updated their Endorsement Guide.
Do's and Don'ts for Paid Social Media/Influencers:
- Do use "ad," "#ad," "sponsored," or "promotion."
- Don't use #thankyou, #sp, #client; basically anything ambiguous or confusing.
- The FTC is not mandating specific wording of disclosures
- They are enforcing our disclosures be easily understood by the audience.
- Do make sure disclosures are presented in the text component of the content without having to "click more."
- Don't make the audience have to "click more" in order to see full disclosures.
- The FTC is not saying disclosures must be at the beginning of a post/tweet; the FTC does not dictate where we place disclosures.
- The FTC does look at whether disclosures are easily noticed and again, understood.
- Don't assume Facebook's "PAID" built in disclosure through the hand shake icon is sufficient.
- Do be clear in your own words on all platforms that have built in disclosures.
- Do superimpose #ad on platforms like Snapchat or Instagram Stories.
- Make sure the Snap or Instagram story offers enough time for the audience to look at the image and see #ad.
- Don't talk about your experience with a product if you haven't tried it.
- Don't say a product is terrific if you were paid to try it and thought it was terrible.
- Don't worry if you write about how much you like something you bought on your own and you're not being rewarded.
- The FTC is only concerned about endorsements that are made on behalf of a sponsoring advertiser.
With anything in life, if you're unsure - please ask. You never want to receive a letter like this from the FTC. This is a sample of the warning letter the FTC recently sent to 21 unnamed Instagram influencers.
Always think full transparency; nothing less.
If you would like to reach out to the FTC directly, you can send question to endorsements@ftc.gov.
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