How to ensure your high-profile influencer campaign is legal, decent, honest and truthful.

Molly Mae has hit the news again the other week by falling foul of ASA Influencer Guidelines for the second time. A catalogue of errors that could have easily been avoided has resulted in her high-profile campaign becoming a PR disaster.

An influencer marketing specialist, such as Influencer Performance, will have a full understanding of what can and can’t be done.

So, what are the rules?

It is unfair and against the law for an influencer to promote a product where a trader has paid for the promotion without making it clear in the content, image or sound that it’s an advertisement. If an influencer fails to identify any commercial intent or hiding ‘material’ information behind a social media post, is breaking the law. Customers need to know the endorsement has been paid for. What counts as an #AD?

1. If you pay an influencer a certain amount of money to create content for a brand, service, event or even prize draws or any give aways they do.

2. If you’re giving an influencer a free product / service. This includes gifts, service, trips, hotel stays ect.

3. If you ask an influencer to promote a product or service that contains hyperlink or a discount code that means they are getting paid for ever click through and the link can be tracked back to the content.

4. If you pay for a ‘sponsored’ or ‘promoted’ post.

Even if a product is gifted to an influencer, free of charge, according to ASA, any ‘beneficial arrangement’ is considered payment. This means whenever influencers are asked to work with a brand, they NEED to disclose this in any relevant posts. There’s nothing wrong with paying influencers to create content but the industry needs to be upfront about this!

How do I make it clear?

When working with influencers we must make sure transparency is key. As consumers are more aware, we need to guarantee that everyone followers the rules by producing compliant content. At Influencer Performance, we recommend using #AD, as this is upfront, obvious and clear for customers to understand. A brand can reserve the right to check/approve all influencer content before it is posted and ask influencer to change it, so the content is in line with ASA guidelines. Conclusion When working with influencers we must make sure transparency is key. As consumers are more aware, we need to guarantee that everyone followers the rules by producing compliant content. At Influencer Performance we always ensure all of our influencer partnerships stay on the right side of the consumer protection Law. If you have any questions or want to find out more about influencer marketing, please get in touch.