Being a social media influencer today is like running a small business. You build an audience and partner with brands to influence purchasing decisions. Due to this kind of influence, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates the sharing of sponsored content online. As influencer marketing continues to grow, and consumers increasingly rely on reviews before making purchases, transparent and honest disclosures matter more than ever. If you work with brands as an influencer, here is how to stay compliant with the FTC’s endorsement rules.

The FTC’s Core Rule: Disclose Material Connections

The FTC’s guidance is actually quite simple: If there is a relationship between you and a brand that could affect how your audience views your recommendation, you must disclose it. This is what is known as “material connection.” It is worth noting that a material connection is not limited to cash payments. It also includes receiving free products, earning commissions, or getting any perk tied to your endorsement. Even business and family relationships with a brand require disclosure.

Essentially, the goal is transparency. When your followers do not know a post is sponsored, they may assume your opinion is entirely independent. And that assumption can influence buying decisions, which is precisely what the FTC is trying to prevent.

How to Stay Compliant

As a social media influencer, here is what you must do to ensure your content meets FTC standards:

Always Disclose Sponsored Content

Per the FTC’s “Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers,” you must disclose sponsored content in a way that is easy to notice and easy to understand. If a disclosure is buried at the bottom of a caption or hidden behind a “see more” button, this will not cut it.

Ensure you use direct language, such as “#Ad” or “#Sponsored”, and place it at the beginning of your caption or clearly within the content itself. Avoid using terms like “Partner” or “Thanks to Brand X,” as this doesn’t clearly indicate to viewers or listeners that it is an advertisement.

Disclose Across All Formats

Disclosures apply everywhere, not just on the grid. If your content is in video format, you should say the disclosure out loud and include it in the description. For a live stream, ensure you mention it at the start and repeat it occasionally. For stories, reels, or any other short-form videos, clearly display the disclosure on the screen and ensure it is long enough for viewers to read it.

Use Plain, Honest Language

The tip here is to avoid jargon. Instead, always let your disclosure sound natural and straightforward. This may sound like,” Brand X sponsored this post” or “I received this product for free from Brand X.” Honesty also applies to the endorsement itself. Avoid exaggerating results, do not claim you used a product if you did not, and be clear if outcomes vary from one person to another.

Penalties for Not Being Compliant

Failing to comply can be costly. The FTC may start with warning letters, but this could escalate to penalties. As of 2025, violating an FTC order can result in fines exceeding $53,000 per violation, and each undisclosed post can count separately.

The FTC’s Endorsement Guides: Legal Foundation

The FTC’s authority over influencer marketing flows from Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45, which prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce. The FTC operationalizes this authority through its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, 16 C.F.R. Part 255, most recently updated in June 2023. The core requirement: if an influencer has a “material connection” to the brand—meaning any relationship that might affect the credibility of their endorsement that consumers would not otherwise expect—that connection must be clearly and conspicuously disclosed. A material connection includes payment, free products, employment, family relationships, business partnerships, and even a significant personal relationship with the brand owner.

The 2023 update added several important clarifications. First, the guides now explicitly apply to virtual influencers—computer-generated personas—as well as human creators. Second, the FTC made clear that tags, likes, and pins can constitute endorsements if they are made in exchange for material consideration. Third, the guides addressed the “clear and conspicuous” standard more specifically: a disclosure must be unavoidable, presented in the same format and medium as the endorsement, must stand out from other disclosures, and must be placed so that consumers can see it before engaging with the endorsed content. Hiding a disclosure at the end of a caption or burying it in a list of hashtags does not satisfy this standard.

Required Disclosure Language and Placement

The FTC does not mandate specific words, but it provides clear guidance on what works and what does not. For posts, the agency considers “#ad,” “#sponsored,” and “Paid partnership with [Brand]” to be acceptable when placed prominently—at the beginning of a caption, not buried after multiple lines of text or hashtags. Ambiguous terms like “#sp,” “#collab,” “#thanks,” “#ambassador,” or “#partner” are not adequate because consumers do not universally understand them to signal a paid relationship. Simply tagging the brand in a photo does not constitute a disclosure. On Instagram, using the native “Paid partnership” label in addition to a clear caption disclosure is advisable.

For video content, disclosures must appear both verbally (stated clearly in the audio) and visually (displayed on screen) when both formats are present. The FTC has emphasized that a fleeting visual disclaimer flashed for one second does not satisfy the clear and conspicuous standard. For long-form videos, disclosures should appear at or near the beginning—before the sponsored segment—not only at the end. For live streams, verbal disclosures should be repeated periodically throughout the stream, not just at the start. Stories and ephemeral content require in-the-moment disclosures that viewers who see only that content can act on.

FTC Enforcement: Who Gets Targeted and What It Costs

The FTC has pursued enforcement against both brands and influencers for disclosure failures. Early cases targeted brands: in 2017, the FTC sent warning letters to over 90 celebrities and influencers and simultaneously sent reminder letters to brands. In 2019, the FTC settled with Sunday Riley (skin care brand) after employees were directed to post fake positive reviews. In 2022, the FTC sent over 700 warning letters to brands and agencies requiring documentation of their disclosure compliance procedures. The agency has also pursued formal enforcement: Lord & Taylor settled a complaint in 2016 for failing to disclose that it paid 50 Instagram influencers to post about its Design Lab dress. The settlement included a 20-year prohibition on misrepresenting paid content as editorial.

While the FTC historically did not bring individual enforcement actions against influencers for first-time violations, the 2023 guide revisions signal greater willingness to target individual creators who knowingly violate disclosure requirements, particularly repeat offenders. The FTC also has authority to seek civil penalties when a party engages in conduct that violates a prior FTC order or that violates a rule that provides for civil penalties—currently up to $51,744 per violation for rule violations. Beyond FTC exposure, inadequate disclosures can trigger state law claims under state consumer protection statutes, class action suits, and FCC issues if broadcast media is involved.

Brand Liability: What Marketers Must Require From Influencers

Brands and advertising agencies are not off the hook simply because an influencer posts non-compliant content. The FTC holds brands accountable for influencer disclosures because the brand is the beneficiary of the endorsement and typically has contractual control over the content. Brands must implement a written social media policy requiring disclosure in all influencer contracts, provide specific disclosure language and placement instructions, monitor influencer content for compliance, and stop payments to influencers who repeatedly fail to disclose. FTC guidance recommends including compliance obligations directly in brand deal contracts and auditing published content for at least the first several posts.

Marketing agencies that manage influencer campaigns for clients face the same scrutiny. If an agency drafts the content and the influencer publishes it without adequate disclosure, both the agency and the brand may be held responsible. Agencies should maintain written records of all disclosure instructions given to influencers, obtain confirmation that each post included the required disclosure before final payment is released, and include indemnification provisions in their agency agreements that allocate risk for disclosure failures between the agency and the brand client.

Applying the Rules to Specific Platforms

Platform-specific mechanics affect how disclosure requirements apply in practice. On Instagram, the “Paid partnership” label in collaboration posts is a native tool that makes the disclosure visible to followers—but using this tool alone does not automatically satisfy the FTC standard; caption-level disclosure remains advisable. On TikTok, the “Promotional content” toggle marks videos with an on-screen label—again, a helpful supplement but not necessarily a complete solution. On YouTube, the “Includes paid promotion” checkbox adds a disclosure overlay, but the FTC expects creators to also verbally disclose the relationship within the video itself, ideally near the beginning of the sponsored segment.

For blog posts and article-style sponsored content, disclosures must appear before the reader begins the sponsored content—at the top of the post, not in a footer or after a full reading of the article. Newsletter sponsorships require clear visual separation between editorial content and paid placements. Podcast sponsorship disclosures should be read clearly in the episode audio rather than relegated to show notes that many listeners never read. Each channel has its own mechanics, but the underlying legal standard—clear, conspicuous, and upfront—is the same across all of them.

Whether you are a brand building an influencer program or a creator navigating your first brand deal, the FTC disclosure rules require careful attention. Contact the internet law attorneys at Revision Legal through the form on this page or call (855) 473-8474. Our internet law practice and e-commerce practice advise brands, agencies, and influencers on FTC compliance, contract drafting, and enforcement response nationwide.