According to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), 80% of people prefer influencers to clearly state when content is advertising.

The ASA has today (12 February) published a report exploring influencer marketing, which found 70% of people wanted ad labels to be visible up front.

The report titled ‘ASA Influencer Marketing Disclosure Report: Ad transparency key to building trust with audiences and supporting a thriving influencer industry ‘, found “straightforward” labels such as ad or #ad are some of the most effective ways of marking social media content as adverts. However, labels such as #gifted and #thanks were among the weakest for creating clarity.

It also highlighted that influencer marketing was less recognised than brand advertising, despite half the UK online population feeling confident they could spot an influencer ad.

Findings showed labels worked best when placed upfront and required minimal effort to spot.

According to the watchdog, the findings support its longstanding rules that require influencers to label advertising content clearly. It also stated that it will be updating its ‘Influencers’ Guide to Making Clear That Ads Are Ads’.

Shahriar Coupal, director of advertising policy and practice said: “Influencers should take note; UK online users have told us they have strong expectations around honesty and being treated fairly. With influencers playing an increasingly prominent role in how people discover products and services, when ads are not disclosed or disclosure is unclear, it risks eroding the trust influencers have spent time and effort building. 

“We’re here to help; our research findings, advice and resources give influencers, agencies and brands a roadmap for getting it right.” 

The regulators’ research coincided with the Influencer Marketing Trade Body (IMTB) research into the engagement impact of ad disclosure. The body found that explicit ad disclosure, such as #ad, is not associated with lower engagement. 

Director general of IMTB, Scott Guthrie added: “Done well, creator marketing is engaging, enjoyable, informative and trustworthy.

“The ASA’s new report underscores the important role effective disclosure plays in earning viewer trust. Findings show clearly what viewers expect and how advertisers, agencies and creators can maintain trust through clear, prominent and timely disclosure.  

He added: “Our own new research, produced in partnership with HypeAuditor shows no degradation in engagement when #AD is applied to creator sponsored content. Together these two reports will end long-held misconceptions amongst some creators and raise effective disclosure rates.” 

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