Rules
How the FTC endorsement guides apply to startup influencer acquisition
FTC endorsement guides startup influencer acquisition: what US founders must disclose, where, and how to monitor creator and affiliate posts.
What to take away
- The 2023 revised Endorsement Guides set the rule. A paid, gifted or affiliate post needs a disclosure that is clear and conspicuous on the device the viewer uses.
- Brand and creator can both be liable. Once a startup learns a disclosure is missing or buried, ask for a fix within 48 hours and keep a dated record.
- Free product, affiliate commissions and rewards for a review are material connections. Buying, selling or suppressing reviews now breaks the guides.
- Pay creators as independent contractors, collect a W-9 first, and file Form 1099-NEC once a creator earns $600 in a calendar year.
What changed in the 2023 revised Endorsement Guides
The FTC rewrote its Endorsement Guides in 2023, replacing staff guidance startups had leaned on since 2009. Its question and answer page walks brands and creators through the changes: FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking.
The clear and conspicuous standard now covers the whole post. A disclosure a viewer can scroll past, tap away or miss with the sound off does not meet it.
Incentivized reviews are named. Offer a discount, a gift card or contest entry for a review, and that review is an endorsement with a connection to disclose.
The fake reviews rule bans buying, selling and suppressing reviews. It also bans insider reviews written to look independent.
The older .com Disclosures staff guidance still helps with placement, though it predates the 2023 text. Read it as a placement reference and the revised guides as the rule.
Disclosure wording a startup hands to creators
Give creators a short menu of approved lines. That removes guesswork and speeds review. The FTC page written for the person who posts is worth handing over at onboarding: Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers.
Disclosure wording
- "Paid partnership with [Brand]."
- "[Brand] paid me to make this."
- "[Brand] gave me this product free to review."
- "I earn a commission if you buy through my link."
- "I work for [Brand]."
Approved creator disclosure lines
- Paid partnership with [Brand].
- [Brand] paid me to make this.
- [Brand] gave me this product for free to review.
- I earn a commission if you buy through my link.
- I work for [Brand].
Use the brand name, not "a partner." A viewer should not have to click through to learn who paid. No single sentence is required, but the words must land in about two seconds.
Hiring creators abroad adds rules on top of disclosure. A Canadian campaign carries consent and privacy duties, which cross-border acquisition from Canada and Mexico sets out.
Placement rules for video, stories, podcasts and affiliate links
Placement is where most startup programs fail. The words can be exact and still invisible.
Placement rules
| Format | Where the disclosure goes | Common failure |
|---|---|---|
| Video | In the video, spoken or on screen, plus the description | On-screen text shown for one second |
| Stories and short-form | On the first frame, held in view | A sticker the viewer taps past |
| Podcast | Read at the top of the segment | Only in the show notes |
| Affiliate link | Beside the link, above the fold | Note pushed to the footer |
| Live stream | Said at the start and after each break | A pinned comment only |
Platform labels help but do not replace words. An Instagram paid partnership tag is one signal among several, and a buried caption still fails.
Placement checklist for every post
- Disclosure in first two lines or first frame.
- Brand name spelled out.
- Not hidden in a hashtag block.
- Video and audio carry the disclosure.
- Affiliate links have a commission note above.
A two-minute review before a post goes live prevents a long cleanup. A channel plan that gives each platform one job also tells you where a disclosure should sit, as social marketing outlasts trends explains.
Contract terms and the 48-hour fix deadline
Put the disclosure duty in the contract, not only in the brief. Five terms carry most of the weight:
Contract terms
- The approved disclosure line, written out in full.
- Placement rules per format, matching the table above.
- A fix deadline of 48 hours after written notice.
- The right to pause payment and pull the post if the fix is late or refused.
- A records clause requiring dated screenshots from both sides.
A contract with no deadline gives you nothing to show when a post sits undisclosed for two weeks, and the gap is where liability grows. A 48-hour window limits exposure and still leaves a creator room to act.
Fintech and other regulated categories face extra limits on testimonials, so read SEC marketing rule limits on testimonials before you brief a creator.
Monitoring, records and the 1099-NEC threshold
Duties run past launch. Creators edit captions, delete lines and add affiliate links weeks later.
Monitoring and records
- Build a tracker with creator name, platform, post URL, go-live date and disclosure status.
- Screenshot each post on the day it goes live and store it with the date visible.
- Re-check captions and pinned comments at day seven and day thirty, then monthly for evergreen content.
- Send the exact fix and a 48-hour deadline when a disclosure is missing.
- Log the fix date and the new screenshot in the same file.
If a creator refuses, pause payments and stop new posts. The FTC weighs what a brand did after it learned of a problem, and its warning letters show the commission watches this space without filing a case.
Most creators are independent contractors. The IRS weighs behavioral control, financial control and the type of relationship, and its page explains those tests: Independent contractor (self-employed) or employee?. Collect a W-9 before the first payment and file Form 1099-NEC once payments to one creator reach $600 in a calendar year.
Creator contact lists and audience data gathered during monitoring fall under state privacy law, and California CCPA and CPRA rules on email and ad targeting set out what to record.
Example: five creators, one launch week
A seed-stage skincare brand in Colorado pays five creators $800 each for launch week, a $4,000 spend. Each contract names the disclosure line and the 48-hour fix deadline.
The brand collects W-9s, pays by ACH, screenshots every post on day one and day thirty, then issues 1099-NEC forms in January. Admin time runs about six hours.
One creator posts a story with the disclosure on frame three. The brand sends the fix request the same day, and the corrected frame goes up inside 48 hours. Both screenshots sit in the file.
