How Instagram New Terms of Use Affect Brand Partnerships (effective December 2020)
Instagram updated their guidelines for their terms of use on 12/20/2020 and there’s a lot of talk and concerns about one specific topic: the fact that bloggers and influencers who get a gift in exchange for posting now have to disclose it as a brand partnership with the branded content tools.
According to Instagram’s new terms of use, brand partnerships now need to be disclosed basically anytime there’s an exchange with a brand, even if it’s a gift.
This is the big one everyone seems concerned about.
Honestly, this is just Instagram catching up with the actual law, at least here in the U.S., which is regulated by the government via the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).
The FTC has been long saying that any form of exchange between brands and influencers need to be disclosed, which includes not only product exchange, but also any ties you may have with the company, such as a family member working there.
When a brand gives you a gift, they’re not giving you a gift because you’re friends and it’s your birthday. So it’s a brand partnership. Except instead of getting money, you are getting goods.
This is probably a good opportunity for bloggers and influencers to stop accepting gifts as a currency, unless of course they really want what the brand has to offer and will benefit from the trade.
If you’re not very familiar with the FTC and their rules for Influencer Marketing, check out their Disclosure 101 Guide for Social Media Influencers here.
Remember that Instagram makes their own rules, but the FTC (in the U.S. and other government agencies abroad) are the ones who actually make it a law and breaking it can lead to a fine.
Other than brand partnerships disclosures, Instagram has also added and reworded a few more guidelines including:
You must not impersonate someone you’re not (which would affect fan accounts and parodies).
You cannot sell, license or purchase any aspect of your account, including an account itself, your username or hashtags (this is an update on terminology).
To make sure you’re playing by Instagram’s rules and don’t put your account in risk of being deleted, you should read the complete new terms of service by Instagram effective 12/20/2020 here.
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Manu Muraro is the founder of Your Social Team, an Instagram training membership and Done For You content shop. Born and raised in Brazil, Manu moved to the U.S. in 2000 right out of college to work for Cartoon Network, where she made an award winning career in creative and strategy. In 2017, Manu started Your Social Team with the mission of helping women entrepreneur and social media managers grow engagement and sales through Instagram without the overwhelm.