Exploring the importance of advertising transparency on social media.
Advertorial and sponsored content marketing is becoming more and more popularized due to the growth of social media marketing and the volume of social media influencers.
Anyone can become an influencer — just easily create an account on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest, LinkedIn or a social media channel of your choice, post content that have a central theme, use appropriate hashtags and attract users by posting regularly at appropriate times during the day when people are on their social media apps consuming their daily intake of content.
Social media influencers have changed the way brands approach their marketing strategy and it’s becoming easier to reach and engage with people across the globe than ever before.
Some brands have been taking advantage of this marketing channel by paying high-profile influencers to post a photo with their products without disclosing that it is a paid endorsement. High-profile influencers have been misleading their followers psychologically having them think that the influencer has a genuine interest in the product they posted.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rauaAfM86cQ]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have issued 90+ warnings to influencers over unclear posts on Instagram.
“When there exists a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product that might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement (i.e., the connection is not reasonably expected by the audience), such connection must be fully disclosed.” — FTC (2009)
If influencers don’t explicitly state that their post is a sponsored ad they will get fined in accordance to FTC’s endorsement guidelines.
Over the years of using Instagram, I’ve followed many Instagram influencers for my daily consumption of content related to sports, food, fashion, and tech.
I’ve seen their growth from hundreds of followers to thousands and you could easily notice that the more followers they gained, the more sponsored content they posted. An example of this is Instagram influencer @meganbatoon who started her Instagram account to show the world her talent and love for dancing.
Brands such as Nike started reaching out to her to showcase their product line and her “genuine” love for their products. This impacts my perception of Nike as a brand that is using social media influencers more and more to anchor their image as the brand for physically active people involved in culture and the arts.
Thankfully Megan has taken her image as an influencer very seriously by appropriately labelling her posts and sponsored ones and has not been involved in FTC filings.
Again, anyone can become a social media influencer and if you do decide to become one remember that when brands approach you to advertise their products, you absolutely must disclose that your post is a sponsored advertisement. .
Otherwise, you’ll see your reputation tank and find yourself potentially in front of a judge.
