Influencer marketing is a relatively new practice but is steadily growing in both popularity and ad spend. The inherent fragmentation and vastness of the influencer landscape, combined with the potential for virtually anyone to become a content creator promoting products or services, make it particularly challenging to align this emerging marketing practice with existing regulatory and self-regulatory frameworks.
This twofold issue -rapid growth and the lack of established structure in influencer marketing- can lead to irresponsible practices. For example, the network of European Self-Regulatory Organisations (SROs) has been managing an increasing number of complaints related to influencer marketing. Out of 50,000 complaints handled by the SR network in 2022, 50% we related to online content and 32% of those related to influencer marketing.
The advertising industry has a shared responsibility to ensure that the entire advertising value chain, including all marketing practices, adheres to responsible standards. To address this, EASA has been intensifying its efforts to develop best practices and provide information and training for influencers. Below is an overview of EASA’s key initiatives aimed at fostering responsible influencer marketing.
The Influencer Marketing Standards Training (IMST) and the Certification for Responsible Influencer Marketing
To ensure influencers understand the rules and principles of responsible advertising, EASA and its network of self-regulatory organisations have introduced the Influencer Marketing Standards Training (IMST) and the Certification for Responsible Influencer Marketing. These two components work hand in hand: the IMST is a fast, accessible, and affordable training program designed for influencers and content creators across Europe. It equips them with essential knowledge about advertising standards.
The Certification for Responsible Influencer Marketing, the next step, monitors the work of influencers who have completed the training to ensure they comply with the rules they have learned. This monitoring process leverages artificial intelligence to regularly review the content published by certified influencers.
Interested? On this page, you can find a more extensive description of the IMST, and an updated list of the SROs currently offering a training.
EASA Best Practice Recommendation on Influencer Marketing
EASA’s Best Practice Recommendations (BPRs) are created to support and guide EASA’s self-regulatory organisations (SROs) and industry members in the practice of advertising self-regulation. They serve as a valuable resource for SROs when developing their own national guidelines. You can find the latest version here.
DiscloseMe
Are you an influencer seeking to ensure transparency in your brand collaborations? Or a marketer looking to understand the influencer marketing guidelines across different countries? EASA’s tool, DiscloseMe, is designed to help you navigate the ever-evolving landscape of disclosure rules in influencer marketing. The tool provides with transparency disclosure rules for different European countries – find yours here.
