More companies are starting to use social media influencers as part of their marketing. As this area grows there are a few considerations regarding disclosures. The main SOCIAL MEDIA page has some introduction details on this issue but this post will go more indepth.
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
The FTC has sent out warning letters to both social media influencers and businesses. The FTC regulates unfair and deceptive business practices. Under unfair and deceptive business practices, advertisements must be truthful and not misleading. In the case of social media influencers, there needs to be disclosures of endorsements or it may be considered misleading. Stated by the FTC “advertisers are advised that using unrepresentative testimonials may be misleading if they are not accompanied by information describing what consumers can generally expect from use of the product or service.”
If social media influencers are being used, it will be important to know:
- When to disclose – Disclose when you have any financial, employment, personal, or family relationship with a brand.
- How to disclose – Make sure people will see and understand the disclosure.
Keeping these two things in mind, disclosures should be made in any form possible. This may include tags, hashtags, and pins. In addition, disclosures should not be hidden. It should be placed near the post or video and not mixed in a group of other text that may hide the endorsement.
As many social media influencers may not have a good understanding of these rules, the FTC has posted a brochure: Disclosures 101.
CONTRACTS
It will also be important to set up contracts with social media influencers. A contract will keep the social media influencers accountable for their actions. As many social media influencers may not have a good understanding of disclosure rules, a business should include these rules in the contracts.
Some language to add include:
- Exact details of the posts – The more detail that is included in a contract about the post will make the influencers accountable for the content. This also includes the length of time the post should stay up for.
- Approval of the post – If there may be something questionable about the influencers, first, should you be using the influencer? Second, you will be able to decide whether the content will represent the business in an acceptable way.
- Social media policy – There should be a list of guidelines that the social media influencer follows, including disclosure rules.
- Reservation to remove – It may be important to be able to have a social media influencer remove their posts. If the business is put in some situation based on the social media influencers actions, the business may want to remove any endorsements of the products.