With greater regulations surrounding sponsored content on social media, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for influencer marketing to stay ‘on brand’ or look authentic, while still following new guidelines.
Here, BD has compiled some tips to ensure that influencers can still reach their full advertising potential through sponsored content, while also not compromising their social media presence - or breaking the law.
Watch your hashtags
It’s important to know the difference between a #sponsored post and what must be marked as an #ad.
A sponsored post only has a paid element, and the promoter has editorial discretion on what they say about the product; whether it be in the Instagram caption, vlog, blog post, etc. If you are allowed to say what you want about the product, it may be tagged with #sponsored, #spon, #sp.
An advertisement is when the promoter has been told what to say or write, and should be marked as such. It is unfair to dupe followers into thinking that what has been said about a product is a your authentic voice when a brand has provided the sell.
Don’t mislead your audience
As there is a greater cry for transparency on social media, it’s important to not forget that pre and post-production on a paid post could also potentially mislead followers.
For example, if an influencer is tasked with promoting a teeth-whitening product and then makes their teeth whiter in a photo of the product ‘post use’, that could be flagged with the advertising watch dog.
Don’t forget your international audience
It’s important to remember that if a follower overseas feels deceived by your post, a complaint can still be lodged against you.
Honesty is the best policy when it comes to paid content.
Be careful of titles and timing
If you are posting a blog, or in particular a vlog about a product, make sure that is made clear in the title. Consumers need to have the option whether they would like to view the advertisement or not; similar to how someone can close a pop-up ad or switch television channels. If a video is perceived to be authentic, when in actuality is a 15 minute paid video of someone talking about a product, that will be noted as a breach of regulations.
Even if the product is only mentioned briefly, the fact that you have been paid for that mention must be set in writing.
The larger your audience, the larger the backlash
When it comes to posting paid content to your social media, it’s important to ensure that the post aligns with your regular content so not to alienate followers; and with the new guidelines comes a greater responsibility in ensuring your audience knows which content is sponsored and which is organic.
While it's true that all social media users are subject to the guidelines irrespective of follower count, the likelihood of a well-known influencer being called-out for breaching guidelines and deciveing followers is much higher than someone with a smaller, more niche audience. A more recent example of this is the now-notorious Fyre Festival - after which the likes of Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Hailey Baldwin were met with global backlash for their misleading promotion of the disasrous event on social media.
Ultimately, if a complaint is made against a paid post for misleading consumers, the poster will inevitably be named and shamed. It hardly needs mentioning that being a labelled as a social media deceptive will negatively affect your personal brand, and could be detrimental to future paid opportunities.
Finally, as regulations grow stricter, so too do the punishments for social media deception. It's true that we all live our best life on Instagram, but failure to mention that you're being paid for content can carry a maximum fine of $220,000 per post for an influencer, and $1.1m for a brand.
You can view the entire new set of guidelines here.
Image: Elle Ferguson/Instagram
