Why social media influencers mustn’t ignore advertising rules
We’re stumbling through the fake news phase of the digital age. It’s increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction, the authentic from the phoney, right from wrong. But truth matters. And that’s why we’re taking action and making clear to a generation of social influencers – those with influence over online communities - that when it comes to advertising they risk devaluing their own brand if they don’t play by the advertising rules.
It used to be difficult to create content and get it in front of the right people. Whether it was news, entertainment or advertising, it cost money to make and building trust with people took years. But enter the internet and any one of us can create content at home or on the move, in next to no time and at next to no cost. And for the truly talented, the size of the potential audience is enormous.
If you follow influencers on social media – be they YouTubers, Instagrammers or reality TV celebrities - chances are you’re interested in how they look, what they do or what they say. But how would you feel if you discovered the content they’d posted was paid for and controlled by a brand? You were being advertised to, but you didn’t know it.
Online stars hold power. With more followers than national newspapers have readers, producing content that gets more views than TV programmes have viewers, brands have been quick to tap into their popularity. Some of the arrangements that have followed involve paying influencers to promote their brands. Our ad rules don’t prohibit that type of relationship, but they do say that brands and influencers need to be upfront about the fact they’re advertising.
None of us should have to play detective to deduce the status of a post. Is it genuine independent opinion? Is it an ad? We should be able to make an informed choice, at the outset, about whether we want to engage with it. Finding out later that content was an ad, or worse still never realising at all, is unfair. It undermines and erodes our trust.
Where brands and influencers have failed to make sure posts containing advertising content are obviously identifiable as ads, we’ve taken action to ban them. But the remedy is simple: including a #ad label in a prominent position is a quick and easy way for brands and influencers to show that they take their responsibilities seriously and value transparency and trust.