The FTC expects you to tell your audience when a brand has paid you, gifted you something, or has a family, personal, or work tie to you. This checklist covers where the disclosure goes on each platform and gives you lines you can copy. It's based on the FTC's published guidance for influencers.
What you get
A placement checklist for YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, podcasts, newsletters, and blogs
A copy bank of disclosure lines for affiliate, gifted, paid, and employee relationships
An affiliate disclaimer block you can paste into your site or description
A branded PDF to keep by your desk and an editable CSV to add your own lines
How to use this template
1
Name the relationship. Before you post, write down what connects you to the brand: payment, free product, affiliate commission, employment, or a personal tie.
2
Pick a line from the copy bank. Choose the line that matches the relationship and platform. Keep it short and plain so anyone reading it understands.
3
Place it where people will see it. Put the disclosure with the endorsement itself, early and visible without clicking 'more'. For video, say it and show it in the video.
4
Repeat it on every post. Each post, story, or video needs its own disclosure. Your audience may only see one of them.
What's inside
Here's a preview. Unlock the free download to get all 5 sections (4 more below).
Where to put the disclosure, by platform
The FTC says a disclosure should be hard to miss and placed with the endorsement itself. Here's how that applies on each platform.
Platform
Where the disclosure goes
Don't rely on
YouTube
Say it and show it on screen in the video, near the start. Also add it to the description.
The description alone, or only the platform's paid-promotion label
Instagram
In the image or video for Reels and Stories, and at the start of the caption above the 'more' cut.
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Yes. The FTC's guidance says that if a brand gives you free or discounted products or other perks and you then mention its products, you should disclose it, even if you weren't asked to post. A line like 'Thanks to [Brand] for the free product' is often enough.
Is #ad enough for an FTC disclosure?
+
The FTC lists 'ad', 'advertisement', and 'sponsored' as clear terms, so #ad can work if it's placed where people will see it, such as the start of a caption. A tag lost among other hashtags or hidden behind 'more' is easy to miss. For video, say and show the disclosure in the video too.
Is the platform's paid partnership label enough?
+
The FTC says not to assume a platform's disclosure tool is good enough on its own. Use it, and add your own clear disclosure in the post or video as well.
