The influencer marketing industry is growing rapidly. Many brands look to work with celebrities and those with a large number of social media followers in order to reach their target audiences.
Last year we wrote a warning to Snapchat users about abiding by advertising regulations following a high profile case in which a Reality TV star posted sponsored images without identifying them as adverts. Under the 2008 law for consumer protection, any paid content to publicise a product must be clearly identifiable as a promotion.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has now launched an investigation. This includes writing to a number of celebrities and social media influencers to find out whether they are being transparent about any sponsorship deals they may have.
George Lusty, the CMA’s senior director for consumer protection, comments:
“If people see clothes, cosmetics, a car, or a holiday being plugged by someone they admire, they might be swayed into buying it. So, it’s really important they are clearly told whether a celebrity is promoting a product because they have bought it themselves, or because they have been paid or thanked in some way by the brand.”
How should you label your content?
It’s important for influencers to abide by the rules set out when promoting sponsored content. Otherwise they could risk being investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority. Kairos Media have put together a handy list of actions to take when posting paid content across a variety of different social media platforms. These include:
- Instagram: using hashtags #ad or #sponsored within the caption or tagging the content as ‘Paid partnership with’
- Facebook: tagging the brand within the post
- Twitter/Snapcat/TikTok: use the hashtags #sponsored or #ad
- Youtube: tick the box ‘video contains paid promotion’ in the advanced settings
Find out more
If you have any questions or concerns on sponsored content, please get in touch with one of our team .