When disclosure is required
The core rule is simple: if there's a material connection between the brand and the creator that the audience wouldn't expect, it must be disclosed. "Material connection" covers payment, free products, affiliate commissions, discounts, or any other compensation. B2B is not exempt—sponsored LinkedIn posts, paid podcast reads, and gifted-software reviews all qualify.
If the creator was paid or otherwise incentivized, assume disclosure is required. The test is whether knowing about the relationship would affect how the audience weighs the endorsement, and for a paid endorsement, it always would.
How and where to disclose
Disclosure must be clear, conspicuous, and hard to miss—in plain language the audience understands. "#ad," "Sponsored," or "Paid partnership with [Brand]" works; vague tags like "#sp," "#collab," "#ambassador," or burying "thanks to our partner" in a wall of hashtags does not.
Place it where people actually see it: at the start of a post or caption, not after a "more" cutoff; spoken aloud in a podcast or video, not just in the description; and on-screen in video where viewers will notice. The disclosure should be visible without clicking, scrolling past a fold, or hunting for it.
Who's responsible and what's at stake
Both sides carry responsibility. Creators must disclose, and brands are expected to have a reasonable program to ensure their paid creators do—you can't outsource the obligation and look away. In practice that means putting disclosure in your brief, checking the published content, and keeping records.
Beyond regulatory risk, undisclosed ads erode the exact trust you're paying for. B2B audiences are professionally skeptical; a hidden endorsement that gets called out damages both the creator's credibility and your brand. Clean disclosure protects the asset you're buying.
A practical compliance checklist
Build disclosure into the workflow: (1) state the disclosure requirement in every brief, (2) specify the exact wording and placement you expect, (3) verify it appears correctly before and after publish, (4) keep a record of the agreement and the live content, and (5) make sure any claims about your product are truthful and substantiated.
A structured booking process makes this easier. On Marquee, the brief, deliverables, and approval live in one place, so disclosure requirements are documented and you can confirm the published content meets them before releasing escrowed payment. Treat disclosure as a deliverable like any other.
Key takeaways
- →Disclose any material connection—payment, free product, affiliate, or discount. B2B is not exempt.
- →Use clear language (#ad, Sponsored, Paid partnership), placed where it's seen without clicking or scrolling.
- →Both creator and brand are responsible; brands need a reasonable compliance program.
- →Undisclosed ads destroy the trust you're paying for, beyond the legal risk.
- →Bake disclosure into the brief and verify it before releasing payment.