Disclosure and compliance
Paid partnership label
The paid partnership label is the built-in disclosure tool on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, which displays a standard notice above a post identifying the brand that paid for it.
Also called branded content tag, paid partnership tag.
Using the platform tool has a second benefit beyond disclosure: it usually gives the tagged brand access to the post's performance data, and on some platforms is what allows the brand to promote the post as an advert.
Regulators treat the built-in label as helpful but not automatically sufficient on its own. Where the tag is easy to overlook, a written or spoken disclosure in the content itself is the safer approach, and many brands require both.
Related terms
- FTC disclosure
- FTC disclosure is the requirement in the United States that a creator clearly reveals any material connection to a brand, such as payment, free product, or commission, when endorsing it. Disclosure must be clear, prominent, and hard to miss.
- Whitelisting
- Whitelisting is when a creator grants a brand permission to run paid advertising from the creator's own social account, so the ad appears to come from the creator rather than the brand.
- Sponsored post
- A sponsored post is a single piece of content a creator publishes to their own audience in exchange for payment, and which must be disclosed as an advert.
Distinct is the workspace where brands and creators run the work behind these terms. For brands, for creators, or back to the full glossary.