FTC Disclosure Guide for Creators

1. Overview

This guide explains Radius Reach's basic disclosure expectations for creators participating in paid, sponsored, hosted, gifted, affiliate, or otherwise compensated campaigns.

The purpose is simple: viewers should be able to easily tell when a creator has a material connection to a business being featured.

This guide is operational guidance. It does not replace the Creator Agreement, campaign brief, platform rules, FTC requirements, or campaign-specific instructions.

Creators are responsible for understanding and following applicable disclosure rules.

2. When Disclosure Is Required

A disclosure is required when there is a material connection between the creator and the business.

A material connection may include:

• Payment
• Free product
• Free food or drinks
• Free service
• Discounted product or service
• Hosted experience
• Affiliate commission
• Referral incentive
• Gift card
• Future business opportunity
• Brand partnership
• Family, employment, or ownership relationship
• Any other benefit that could affect how viewers understand the endorsement

If a creator receives something of value or has a relationship with the business, the creator should disclose it.

When in doubt, disclose.

3. What Disclosure Should Do

A good disclosure should be:

• Clear
• Easy to notice
• Easy to understand
• Placed where viewers will see it
• Included before or near the endorsement
• Not hidden in a long list of hashtags
• Not buried after "more"
• Not vague or confusing

Viewers should not have to investigate whether the post is sponsored or paid.

4. Good Disclosure Examples

Depending on the campaign, acceptable disclosure may include:

• #ad
• Sponsored by [Brand]
• Paid partnership with [Brand]
• Thanks to [Brand] for hosting me
• I was paid by [Brand] to share this
• [Brand] invited me in to try this experience
• Gifted by [Brand]
• Hosted by [Brand]

The exact wording may depend on the campaign, platform, and brief.

5. Ambiguous Disclosures to Avoid

Creators should avoid unclear disclosures such as:

• #sp
• #spon
• #collab
• #partner
• #ambassador without more context
• Thanks [Brand]
• Shoutout to [Brand]
• Made possible by [Brand] without clarity
• Buried hashtags at the end of a long caption
• Disclosure only in a comment
• Disclosure only after "more"
• Tiny or hard-to-read overlay text
• Fast disappearing text in video
• Verbal-only disclosure that is hard to hear

If a normal viewer might not understand that the content is sponsored, paid, gifted, or hosted, the disclosure is not clear enough.

6. Placement Guidelines

Disclosure should appear where viewers will notice it.

Instagram Feed or Reel Caption

Place disclosure near the beginning of the caption.

Example:

"#ad I visited [Brand] to try their new brunch menu..."

TikTok Caption

Use a clear disclosure in the caption and, when appropriate, in the video itself.

Example:

"#ad Trying the new happy hour menu at [Brand]."

Stories

Use clear overlay text on each sponsored story where the business is featured.

Example:

"Paid partnership with [Brand]"

The text should be large enough, visible long enough, and placed where it can be read.

YouTube Shorts

Use disclosure in the video, caption, or description where viewers can see it.

Example:

"Sponsored by [Brand]"

Verbal Disclosure

Verbal disclosure can help, but it should not be the only disclosure if viewers may miss it.

Example:

"Radius Reach and [Brand] invited me in to try this."

7. Platform Paid Partnership Tools

Creators should use platform paid partnership tools when required or available.

However, using a platform tool may not be enough if the disclosure is not clear to viewers.

Creators should follow both:

• Platform requirements
• Campaign brief requirements
• FTC disclosure expectations

8. Disclosure for Free Products or Hosted Experiences

Disclosure may still be required even if the creator is not paid money.

If a creator receives a free meal, treatment, class, event ticket, product, visit, gift, or hosted experience, the creator should disclose that connection.

Examples:

• "Hosted by [Brand]"
• "Gifted by [Brand]"
• "Thanks to [Brand] for inviting me in"
• "I was invited by [Brand] to try this experience"

9. Disclosure for Affiliate Links or Referral Codes

If a creator earns commission, credit, payment, free product, or other benefit from a link or code, the creator must disclose that connection.

Examples:

• "I may earn a commission if you use my code."
• "#ad Use my code [CODE] at [Brand]."
• "This link is an affiliate link."

10. Disclosure in Video Content

If the sponsored message is in a video, disclosure should be clear to viewers watching the video.

Depending on the platform and campaign, this may include:

• On-screen text
• Caption disclosure
• Verbal disclosure
• Platform paid partnership label
• Description disclosure

For short-form video, the disclosure should appear early enough that viewers see it before or while they hear the endorsement.

11. Disclosure in Multi-Post Campaigns

If a campaign includes multiple posts, stories, reels, or videos, each sponsored piece should include disclosure.

Do not assume that disclosure in one post covers all related posts.

12. Honest Opinions

Creators should share honest experiences.

Creators should not:

• Say they used a product if they did not
• Claim results they did not experience
• Make up a review
• Exaggerate results
• Hide important context
• Make claims not supported by the campaign brief
• Say a service is guaranteed to produce results
• Make medical, financial, fitness, beauty, or wellness claims unless approved and supported

13. Category-Specific Disclosure and Claim Caution

Food and Drink

Creators should avoid misleading claims about pricing, ingredients, availability, or offers.

Alcohol

Creators should follow age-appropriate standards, platform rules, and responsible messaging.

Med Spas, Beauty, Health, Fitness, and Wellness

Creators should not make unsupported claims about health, treatments, body changes, medical outcomes, or guaranteed results.

Real Estate and Apartments

Creators should avoid discriminatory or exclusionary language and follow fair housing caution.

Events

Creators should clearly disclose hosted attendance, free tickets, or paid promotion.

14. Radius Reach Campaign Requirements

For Radius Reach campaigns, creators may be required to:

• Use a specific disclosure
• Use a platform paid partnership tool
• Include a brand tag
• Include a location tag
• Avoid certain claims
• Avoid certain words
• Submit captions for review
• Submit screenshots after posting
• Keep posts live for a specified period
• Avoid using unlicensed audio
• Use original or commercially cleared audio for paid-ad content

Creators must follow the campaign brief.

15. Examples by Scenario

Paid Restaurant Visit

Disclosure example:

"#ad I visited [Restaurant] to try their new dinner menu."

Hosted Fitness Class

Disclosure example:

"Hosted by [Studio] — I stopped in to try their new Pilates class."

Gifted Beauty Service

Disclosure example:

"Gifted by [Salon]. I came in to try their new treatment."

Paid Event Promotion

Disclosure example:

"#ad [Event] invited me to check out this weekend's market."

Affiliate Code

Disclosure example:

"#ad Use my code [CODE]. I may earn a commission."

16. What Not to Do

Do not:

• Hide disclosure in a long hashtag block
• Put disclosure only at the very end
• Use unclear abbreviations
• Use tiny text viewers cannot read
• Use disappearing text that is too fast
• Disclose only in comments
• Assume viewers know you were paid
• Assume free product does not require disclosure
• Assume a platform label is always enough
• Remove disclosure after posting
• Make claims outside the campaign brief

17. If You Are Unsure

If you are unsure whether disclosure is required, disclose.

If you are unsure what wording to use, ask Radius Reach before posting.

Do not post campaign content if you are unsure whether it meets the campaign brief, disclosure requirements, or platform rules.

18. Creator Acknowledgement

Creators may be required to acknowledge this guide before participating in campaigns.

A campaign brief may include a checkbox or acceptance statement such as:

"I understand that I must clearly disclose sponsored, paid, gifted, hosted, affiliate, or otherwise compensated content in accordance with Radius Reach campaign requirements and applicable rules."

19. Contact

Questions about campaign disclosures may be sent to:

Radius Reach

Email: hello@radius-reach.com