When a brand pays someone to praise it, followers have a right to know. When a business claims its product works, the claim should be true. Hidden adverts and exaggerated claims can get posts removed, damage trust and, for some products in Ghana, break the law. As a page manager you are often the person who sets up partnerships and posts the claims, so honesty is part of your job.
The Digital Marketing Specialisations roadmap teaches how to find and work with influencers. This lesson covers the page manager's side: labelling paid content correctly with the platforms' tools, checking claims before they go out and briefing partners in writing.
What counts as paid
A post is promotional if the person posting gets something for it: money, free products, discounts, travel or any other benefit. Meta's branded content policies count gifted products too. If your client sends a free outfit to a Tamale fashion creator who then posts about it, that is a paid partnership and should be labelled.
Using the platforms' labelling tools
- Facebook and Instagram. The creator adds a "Paid partnership" label and tags the brand as a partner. On Instagram, the label is added in the Instagram app. Up to two brand partners can be tagged. As the brand's page manager, you can approve the creator's partnership requests and check that the label appears.
- TikTok. Creators turn on the content disclosure setting before posting when content promotes a brand, product or service. For work with another brand, the video shows a "Paid partnership" label. TikTok may notify an account if it thinks commercial content was not disclosed, and gives a short window to fix it or appeal.