If you work on campaigns with influencers, you need to be aware of Instagram’s terms of service. There has been a recent update to Instagram and influencers are reporting complications because many brands and agencies are unfamiliar with the changes.

Complying with the ASA and Instagram’s terms of service

If an influencer has been paid to publish content or has been gifted a product or use of a service or loaned an item, they must use the hashtag #AD to comply with rules set by the Advertising Standards Authority.

Since Instagram’s update, whenever the influencer uses #AD, they will instantly get a warning, informing them that they must use the branded content tool and tag their branded content partner in the post (it follows on from this recent ruling by the Competition and Markets Authority that said Instagram needed to take action to identify hidden advertising). Failure to use the branded content tool is an infringement of Instagram’s terms of service.

It is not, however, a simple case of tagging someone like you would if you posted an image of a friend or family member because there is an approval process. It is up to the branded content partner (IE the agency or client) to approve the influencer’s request to tag them as a branded content partner.

While the approval process is very simple, influencers are saying that awareness of this process among their partners in the agency world is poor. Requests to be approved as a branded content partner are sometimes being ignored, overlooked or it’s taking a long time to get approved. In rare cases, agencies and brands are failing to appreciate the importance of the using the branded content tool and simply refusing to approve requests.

This is leading to a number of problems. One obvious issue is that it makes it difficult to adhere to the ASA’s rules if the brand does not approve the request to be a branded content partner.   

Some influencers are also reporting that posts are being taken down by Instagram if the branded content partner does not approve the branded content partner request.

John Adams is an influencer and writes the blog Dadbloguk.com.

He said: “This is a new process so it’s understandable awareness of this process may be poor. Nonetheless, I am having to spend hours every week educating brands and agencies about what needs to be done to comply with ASA rules and Instagrams terms of service.

“I’ve had to chase up numerous requests I have made to be approved as a branded content partner and I am hearing all sorts of stories from influencer colleagues. Many are reporting that they struggle to have branded content partner requests approved. I am even aware of one individual who was told by a PR agency that they wouldn’t work with her if she used the branded content tool. There’s a lot of confusion and what concerns me is that some influencers may simply stop using #AD because it’s too much hassle.”