This is a plain-English guide, not legal advice. If you are running gifting at any real scale, have a lawyer review your creator instructions. But the basic rule is simpler than most brands think: in the United States, if a creator posts about a product they got from you for free and there is a relationship between you, the FTC expects a clear disclosure. The trigger is the connection, not the cash.
Brands assume that because they did not pay and did not require a post, no disclosure is needed. That is the most common and most expensive misunderstanding in gifting.
The core concept: material connection
The FTC cares about whether a follower would want to know that a post was influenced by a brand relationship. They call that relationship a material connection, and free product counts. So do discounts, early access, affiliate commissions, and being part of an ambassador program. If the creator got something of value because of their platform, and they post about it, a reasonable viewer should be told.
Notice what is not on that list: a written contract, a payment, or a required deliverable. None of those are necessary to create the obligation. A box you sent for free, to a creator you have a relationship with, who then posts, generally needs a disclosure.
When you do and do not need a disclosure
- Need it: any arranged or ongoing gifting, ambassador programs, anything where the creator received product because of their platform and you have a relationship.
- Grayer area: a genuinely unsolicited, one-off gift to someone you have no relationship with, who posts entirely on their own. Even here, disclosure is the safe choice.
- Definitely need it: the moment any expectation, brief, payment, discount code, or affiliate link enters the picture, at which point you are in paid territory, not pure gifting.
What a compliant disclosure looks like
Three rules: clear language, prominent placement, hard to miss.
- Clear: "Gifted by [brand]", "#gifted", or "#ad". Avoid vague shorthand like "sp", "collab", "thanks [brand]", or "ambassador" alone.
- Prominent: near the top of the caption, not buried under a wall of hashtags or hidden behind "more". In video, say it out loud or put it on screen, do not rely only on the description.
- Per platform: use the platform's built-in branded-content or paid-partnership label in addition to the caption when one exists. The label alone is not always enough; pair it with plain wording.
Who is on the hook: both of you
The creator is responsible for disclosing. But the FTC has been explicit that brands are accountable for the creators they work with. You are expected to tell creators their disclosure obligations and to monitor for compliance. You cannot outsource the responsibility by staying silent.
The practical protection is cheap: brief every creator on disclosure at the point you offer the gift, in writing, and keep that record. A single line in your outreach and a note in your creator CRM is enough to show you instructed them. The post on building a creator CRM in Shopify covers keeping that history per creator.
How to bake disclosure into your workflow
Do not leave it to memory. Put the instruction where the creator can't miss it:
- Add one line to your gifting DM and email: "If you post, please mark it as gifted, US guidelines require it."
- Repeat it on the gifting form or confirmation the creator sees when they submit their address.
- Log that the instruction was sent against each creator record, so you have proof at scale.
When the gifting runs through a single branded link that creates the order in Shopify, that confirmation step is a natural place to restate the disclosure ask. Tools like Seed let you put your own wording on the form the creator fills out, so the reminder is built into the flow rather than something you hope you remembered to say.
A note on non-US creators
Other countries have their own rules, and they are often stricter. The UK's CMA and ASA, the EU's consumer protection regime, and others all require disclosure of gifted content, sometimes with mandated wording. If you seed internationally, the safe default is to disclose everywhere and use the clearest local label available. Disclosure never hurts a genuinely good post; non-disclosure can sink the brand and the creator.
FAQ
Do influencers have to disclose gifted products?
Yes, in the United States, if a creator posts about a product they received for free and they have a relationship with the brand, the FTC expects a clear disclosure such as "gifted" or "#ad". The trigger is the material connection between creator and brand, not whether money changed hands. A genuinely unsolicited gift with no brand relationship is a grayer area, but any ongoing or arranged gifting should be disclosed.
Does a free product count as a material connection under FTC rules?
Yes. The FTC treats free products, discounts, and other perks as material connections that a reasonable follower would want to know about. If a creator received the product because of their platform and posts about it, that connection should be disclosed regardless of whether a post was required or paid for.
Who is responsible for FTC disclosure, the brand or the creator?
Both. The creator is responsible for disclosing, but the FTC also holds brands accountable for the practices of the creators they work with. Brands are expected to inform creators of their disclosure obligations and to monitor for compliance. Telling creators clearly and keeping a record of that instruction protects the brand.
Is saying "gifted" enough to satisfy the FTC?
Generally yes, if it is clear and hard to miss. The disclosure must be in plain language, placed where viewers will actually see it, not buried in a hashtag wall or hidden behind a "more" link. "Gifted by [brand]" or "#gifted" near the top of a caption, or a clear spoken or on-screen note in a video, meets the standard. Vague terms like "sp" or "collab" are not considered adequate.
What happens if a gifted post is not disclosed?
The FTC can pursue enforcement against both the creator and the brand, and platforms may remove or limit the content. In practice, undisclosed gifting also damages trust with the audience once it is noticed. The low-cost protection is to brief every creator on disclosure up front and keep that instruction on record.