“ignorance isn’t an excuse”
Influencer marketing – endorsement by popular ‘real people’ like bloggers, Instagrammers and YouTubers barely existed four years ago. I can remember googling for agencies as I waited to quit my day job, and finding only a handful, mainly in the States. Repeat that search now and you’ll find 100s, all promising to link businesses with the biggest and most influential names on social media – all for a price.
A few weeks ago, Instagram introduced a new system for declaring sponsored content. Off the back of this, I wrote a post tackling
the rules & regulations governing sponsored content and freebies for influencers, and Instagram’s new guidance for disclosing this. Whether you’re an influencer, a small business or even just an avid browser of social media, these rules affect us all, and are not always easy to follow.
I got in touch with
Pete Lewin from Purewal and Partners in London, to get into the nitty-gritty, and hear a clued up professional’s take on where it’s all heading.
Things we talk about in this episode:
- The difference between a free product and paid promotions
- Differences between US and UK regulations, and which we need to follow
- Whether Influencers are under greater pressure to be transparent than traditional media
- What the possible outcomes of failing to disclose are
- What our obligations are when our content will be consumed in countries with different regulations to our own
- How best to protect yourself as an influencer or business using influencer marketing
- What to look for when seeking legal advice on issues like this
Links from this episode:
- My blog post on the new Instagram rules, and how to apply them
- Purewal & Partner’s excellent visual explanation of the rules around sponsored content
- Pete’s Twitter
- Purewal & Partners on twitter
- Purewal and Partners website
- The ASA’s guidance on ‘recognising ads’
- The ASA’s guidance on ads in social media (with lots of helpful examples)
- ASA on vlogs
- and a PS from Pete – “Oh, also – I just read this new blog post today from the FTC, which could be interesting for your readers in the US!”
