Advice Issued To Social Media Influencers

Influencers advised to be transparent about advertising

The Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) have made an agreement with a number of major social media influencers who have pledged to be transparent about their brand endorsements.

Many brands work with influencers to promote products and services to their social media followers. This can be a through a paid campaign or simply offering free products or services for influencers in exchange for a favourable review. However, consumer protection law requires influencers to disclose that they’ve been paid or incentivised to endorse a brand. Otherwise, they risk giving a misleading impression that a post represents their personal view about a product or service.

The CMA is continuing to work with influencers, brands, businesses and social media platforms to make improvements in this area.

Guidance for influencers and brands
The CMA has also published a quick guide for social media influencers, marketing companies, agents and brands to ensure they are aware of their obligations under consumer protection law. This is in addition to the joint guidance issued with the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) ’An Influencer’s Guide to making clear that ads are ads’.

More information can be found on the CMA’s social media endorsements page.