If you work with brands as a performer, whether that’s promoting a product, posting sponsored content, or showing up at a brand-sponsored event, the FTC has clear rules about how you need to disclose those relationships. This isn’t optional, and it isn’t just for full-time influencers. If you’re recommending or endorsing a product or service through social media, this applies to you.
Here’s what you need to know to stay compliant and keep your audience’s trust.
What Counts as a “Material Connection”?
The FTC requires you to disclose any “material connection” you have with a brand whenever you’re endorsing their product or service. A material connection isn’t limited to a direct paycheck. It includes:
- A personal, family, or employment relationship with the brand
- A financial relationship, including being paid for a post
- Receiving free or discounted products, services, or other perks in exchange for mentioning the brand
If a brand has given you anything of value, even something as simple as a free product you didn’t specifically agree to promote, and you go on to mention that product, disclosure is required.
When You Need to Disclose
Here’s a breakdown of the situations where disclosure is required:
Any financial, employment, personal, or family relationship with a brand. This is the baseline rule. If a connection exists, it needs to be disclosed.
Free or discounted products, even without a formal agreement. If a brand sends you something for free and you choose to mention it, you need to disclose that relationship, even if the brand never asked you to post about it.
Don’t assume your audience already knows. Even if your followers are generally aware that you work with certain brands, that’s not a substitute for disclosing the relationship in the specific post or video where the endorsement appears.
Even if you believe your opinion is unbiased. Disclosure isn’t about whether you think you’re being objective. It’s about giving your audience the information they need to evaluate your endorsement for themselves.
Tags, likes, and pins count as endorsements. If you tag a brand, like their content, or pin a product in a way that implies endorsement, the same disclosure rules apply.
Posting from outside the United States. If it’s reasonably foreseeable that your post will reach and affect U.S. consumers, U.S. law applies regardless of where you’re physically posting from. Laws in your own country may apply as well.
One exception: if you have no relationship with a brand and you’re simply sharing your honest experience with something you purchased on your own, you don’t need to disclose the absence of a relationship. The rule exists to flag relationships that exist, not to require a statement when none does.
How to Disclose Properly
Knowing that you need to disclose is only half the equation. How you disclose matters just as much, and the FTC is specific about what does and doesn’t count as adequate disclosure.
Make it visible and unmissable. Your disclosure needs to be placed where people will actually see it, directly with the endorsement itself. Disclosures buried on an “About Me” page, tucked at the end of a long post, or hidden behind a “more” link don’t meet the standard.
Keep it separate from hashtag clusters or link lists. Burying your disclosure in a string of unrelated hashtags or links makes it easy to miss and doesn’t satisfy the requirement.
For photos on platforms like Instagram Stories or Snapchat: Superimpose the disclosure directly over the image, and give viewers enough time to actually read it before it disappears.
For video content: The disclosure needs to appear within the video itself, not just in the written description. Including it in both the audio and the visual elements of the video gives you the best chance of viewers actually noticing it, since some people watch with the sound off and others might miss on-screen text.
For live streams: Repeat the disclosure periodically throughout the stream. Viewers who join partway through need the same opportunity to see it as those who watched from the beginning.
Use clear, simple language. Straightforward phrases like “Thanks to [Brand] for the free product” work well when placed prominently. Terms like “advertisement,” “ad,” and “sponsored” are also effective and widely understood.
On space-limited platforms: Terms like “[Brand]Partner” or “[Brand] Ambassador” can work as alternatives when character count is tight.
Hashtags are optional, not required. Including something like #ad or #sponsored is fine and can reinforce your disclosure, but it isn’t a substitute for a clear, visible disclosure elsewhere in your content.
Avoid vague or unclear terms. Abbreviations like “sp,” “spon,” or stand-alone words like “thanks” or “ambassador” don’t meet the bar. They’re too easy to misread or overlook.
Match the language of your endorsement. If your endorsement is in English, your disclosure needs to be in English too, not just a brand’s preferred language or a default platform setting.
Don’t rely solely on a platform’s built-in disclosure tool. Branded content tags and similar built-in tools can be used in addition to your own clear disclosure, but they aren’t considered sufficient on their own.
A Few More Important Rules
Beyond disclosure itself, there are a few additional standards the FTC holds endorsers to:
- You can’t endorse a product you haven’t actually tried. Your endorsement needs to reflect a real, personal experience with the product.
- You can’t misrepresent your honest opinion. If you were paid to talk about a product and genuinely didn’t like it, you can’t claim otherwise. Compensation doesn’t override truthfulness.
- You can’t make unsupported claims. This is especially important for anything touching on health, wellness, or scientific benefits. If a claim would require evidence the advertiser doesn’t actually have, you can’t make that claim on their behalf.
Why This Matters for Performers
As a performer building a public brand, your endorsements carry weight precisely because your audience trusts your voice. That trust is an asset, and it’s worth protecting. Clear, consistent disclosure isn’t a legal formality to get around. It’s what keeps your recommendations credible and your audience’s trust intact over the long run.
If you regularly work with brands, take the time to get familiar with the FTC’s official guidance, including their full Endorsement Guides, and build good disclosure habits into your content from the start. It’s a small habit that protects both your career and your audience’s confidence in what you share.
For the full details, the FTC’s official brochure, “Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers,” along with their complete Endorsement Guides, is available directly through the FTC’s website.