The Federal Trade Commission this week announced that it had sent out more than 90 letters to prominent social media influencers and marketers, reminding them to “clearly and conspicuously disclose their relationships to brands when promoting or endorsing products.”

Kim Kardashian promoting Duchesnay’s antinausea drug DiclegisKim Kardashian promoting Duchesnay’s antinausea drug Diclegis.

The move comes after a growing number of citizens and advocacy groups had contacted the federal consumer agency regarding potentially deceptive marketing campaigns involving influencers, or third-party spokespersons — celebrities or athletes, for example — who partner with brands and advocate their products or services among that individual’s massive base of followers.

A December survey found that 84 percent of marketers plan to enact an influencer marketing campaign at some point this year.

willfully

The FTC also warned that influencers were not allowed to bury the disclosure in a thicket of hashtags and that ambiguously thanking the endorser does not suffice as clear disclosure. Most noteworthy was the FTC’s mandate that influencers not place their disclosures below the “more” button on Instagram posts, which usually appear after only three lines on posts from that social media site when viewed from a mobile device.

The FTC said the crackdown was a response to a petition spearheaded by consumer rights non-profit Public Citizen and other affiliated organizations and came after the agency’s review of “numerous Instagram posts by celebrities, athletes and other influencers.” The FTC did not publicly release the letters or the names of the individuals who received them.

“Now that brands are paying a premium for influencers and driving what very well may be a bubble in the industry, it is not at all surprising that the FTC took notice,” said Stefan Pollack, president of The Pollack PR Marketing Group. “In the age of fake news, it is more important than ever that both brands and influencers are ethical and transparent with consumers. You cannot put a price on trust and credibility — not even with shares and retweets.”

It’s the first time the FCC has reached out directly to social media influencers, though the agency had formerly addressed the need for endorsers to adequately disclose brand connections. The FCC has also now published an informal business guidance document on the issue, which it said was sent to all influencers who received the April letters.

The action also comes a little more than a year after the agency updated its enforcement policy regarding online native advertising that's deceptively formatted to appear to look like editorial content.

“Relying on influencers to serve as brand reps is filled with peril,” Doug Simon, CEO and president of D S Simon Media, told O’Dwyer’s. “Trying to skirt disclosure rules will become more damaging. Paid third-party influencers are among the least authentic. A much better approach is to have influencers serve as media, interviewing your experts willfully disclosing that they are working with the brand. This allows you to turn your experts into influencers.”