Welcome to PART TWO of my collaboration with Abby of It’s Abby’s World After All! Before you dive into this post, make sure to check out our first post all about the FTC and WHY you need to properly disclose by CLICKING HERE. Have questions about the FTC or specific scenarios? CLICK HERE – We will answer them on the next post!

This post is all about APPLYING the FTC Disclosure Guidelines and discussing proper disclosure verbiage. We are also going to give you some information as to what commonly used terms that you should NOT use to disclose and, most importantly, WHY.

Abby: Two of the most COMMONLY misused disclosures that I see other content creators utilize are “gifted” and “hosted.” Prior to educating myself on proper disclosures, I also thought that they were sufficient. HECK, hotels, restaurants, etc. ALL gave them to me as disclosures in press kits for my posts for goodness sake! They are NOT good though, and thank goodness I did my research and have Katy to explain them as to WHY they don’t work!

Katy: Before we go any further, I know I have a tendency to tune out of long articles, so here’s the TLDR version: (1) unless you paid for it yourself, disclose that shit & (2) if your mom or grandpa wouldn’t understand that it’s an advertisement, you need to make some adjustments to your language

*A quick legal disclaimer, since we’re on the subject: be advised that this article does not constitute an attorney-client relationship, nor does it qualify as formal legal advice.

So why are #hosted & #gifted not okay? Why are these terms considered “ambiguous” by the Federal Trade Comission? They are ambiguous because they have multiple meanings. Actually, they have very clear meanings:

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It sounds straight forward, but it’s most easily explained through examples! So let’s take a look at a few:

Gifted

When I spent a week on my Insta Stories talking about how badly I wanted the new Vera Bradley backpack, but it cost $160 so I wasn’t going to buy one. About a week later, Kyle came home with a surprise present for me!! When I posted a picture with my very own so shortly after complaining about how pricey the bags were, I felt it was important to share that it was a gift, from my fiancé, just because he knows my love of Harry Potter and wanted to surprise me. I would share with my followers that I’m not being hypocritical, I didn’t go out and buy one, and I also want to brag on Kyle for being so sweet. This example really hit home because around that same time, Vera Bradley sent out a TON of merch to creators, all of whom posted pics with the products using only the tags:

 @verabradley #gifted #harrypotterxverabradley 

Major props to the few creators who made sure to add #sponsored or #ad to their post, even if it wasn’t in quite the right location 😉

My backpack was GIFTED. By definition, a gift is something given in exchange for NOTHING. By comparison, those creators’ posts were PAID FOR with the backpack. 

So when a company sends a product to a person with the expectation (either explicit or implied) that a review, post, endorsement, or other content will be created using this product and sharing it with the internet, it is not a gift. The product or service has been given in exchange for said postings. Per the FTC, free product in exchange for a post is a form of payment, therefore, the person posting has been paid to do so (regardless of whether money was exchanged).Thost postings  in turn are advertisements and need to be disclosed as such. 

A note on gifts used for product payment, when a company gives you a product in exchange for two instagram posts five stories and a tik tok, each of those need to be disclosed as advertisements! After that, say a few weeks later, you just want to use that product in a cute post, or you genuinely like it and just enjoy using it, you do not need to disclose, because it is no longer an advertisement.

Hosted

Similarly, if we visit my mother-in-law in New England, she is HOSTING us, we have been hosted by her. Our meals, sleeping quarters, rounds of golf, etc are being provided at no cost to us, for no expected return value. 

Similar to “gifted,” “hosted,” by definition is offered up without the expectation of return value, a host invites a guest to visit or take part in a function, there is no expectation that the person will return any favor.

When you post “thanks so much Restaurant for hosting us tonight!” what you might be thinking is: “But it’s so obvious that means I got my meal for free!” And to other influencers and savvy-‘grammers, that’s absolutely true, it doesn’t matter. The FTC code sections do not explicitly ban the use of hosted and gifted, but instead provide language that is always appropriate “ad” and “sponsored.” 

I get it, the verbiage is frustrating, and sometimes the word “ad” makes us feel icky. So consider something like this 

“@handle ad | This weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Hotel…”

Katy: So now you understand why hosted and gifted are considered ambiguous terms. You hopefully also understand that free products, foods, services given in exchange for a post are actually payments for advertisements. But you might still be thinking: why does it matter? Why does it matter if we’re disclosing our free products clearly, our comp’d meals, our $50 on the side for a cute pic…? Because, we are INFLUENCERS. Per Oxford Dictionary, an influencer is a person who… wait for it… influences another (that’s helpful, right?). Similarly, a CONTENT CREATOR “is someone who is responsible for the contribution of information to any media and most especially to digital media. They usually target an end-user/audience in specific contexts.” (Souce) 

Put another way, an influencer is a person who has the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting and recommending the items on social media. If we break that down, an influencer:

 (1) has a platform like a social media page (do you notice how non-committal this is? There’s no minimum number of followers, no required amount of time spent, no specific media mentioned. That’s it. That’s the only requirement, an influencer has the ability to influence potential buyers. 

No joke. When one of my girlfriends buys a new pair of running shoes and texts our thread about them so I go to the store and ask to try them on, her opinion has influenced me to try out the same pair. Anyone can be an influencer, and everyone has influence over people whether we realize it or not. Therefore, everyone who uses social media and works with brands has the responsibility to understand that they need to abide by the FTC regulations.

Proper disclosure equals one thing: truth, and really, don’t you want your followers to know that you’re truthful and know that they can rely on you for honest reviews? 

A gift of free product should be disclosed!

That means if a small shop sent you a free pair of ears, tossed in a cute keychain, or gave you any other free product and you post about it, that should be acknowledged.  As Abby puts it: “I was paid with the free product, so it’s payment!”

If a big chain store sent you a gift card or product to use in a post, you need to disclose it.  (Source) You can either use the words ad/ advertisement/ sponsored, or explain the relationship: “Eg. Bauble Bar sent me these super cute earrings for free so I could share with you all how beautiful and comfortable they are!)

Abby: Jumping off of this, I do want to share some thoughts/opinions that I have as to why a LOT of influencers don’t utilize AD or SPONSORED in their disclosures (please know these are my personal opinions based on both personal experience and conversations with hundreds of content creators):

1. The concern that their audience will think/feel that a lot of their content is “paid” rather than organic/something they are sharing because they LOVE it
2. Concern that they will be unfollowed for posting sponsored content
3. Looking like a walking advertisement
4. Worrying about flaunting their “income” in the form of sponsored content

While there can be some legitimacy to some of these feelings/thoughts, I have found from my personal experience that sharing products and following FTC guidelines can actually be BENEFICIAL for my content. Not only does it legitimize my “job” as a content creator, but by promoting authentic sponsorships on my page, I’m able to continue to grow my content and brand and explore more things that I am passionate about.

So that’s it! That’s how you comply with the FTC regulations on disclosures in social media: be truthful about your relationship with the promoted product within the first three lines of the post. Easy, peasy. 

How do I do this and how do I suggest others do this? First and foremost, holding yourself accountable as a content creator is KEY. I only enter into professional/paid agreements with companies that sell items that I genuinely love and would share for FREE.

For more tips from Abby, be sure to follow #itsasocialworldafterall on Instagram for all of her FREE tips!

We hope that this post is helpful as you navigate the waters of proper FTC Disclosures! Have questions? Find us (Katy or Abby) on Instagram and shoot us a DM!

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