1. Why it matters
When a brand pays you, gifts you something or gives you a code that earns you money, your audience has a right to know. Nigeria’s advertising regulator, the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), expects sponsored content to be clearly identifiable as advertising, and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) treats hidden advertising as misleading. TikTok, Instagram and YouTube all require paid content to be labelled too.
Labelling is part of the creator agreement. A clear label protects you, the brand and the people who watch you, and it doesn’t cost you views.
2. When to label a post
- Views and clipping campaigns: always. You’re paid for the views the post gets.
- Creator collabs: always. You’re paid a fee for the post.
- Product seeding: if you post about a product you were sent free, say it was gifted, even if there was no fee.
- UGC: content made for the brand to post or run as ads usually isn’t posted on your account. If you also post it yourself, label it.
- Affiliate links and discount codes: say you earn from the link or code.
- Ad codes (whitelisting): when a brand runs your post as an ad, the platform labels it as sponsored. Your original post still needs its own label.
3. How to label it
Use both where you can: the platform’s own label and a tag in the caption.
- TikTok: turn on “Content disclosure” and choose “Paid partnership” (or “Your brand” for your own business).
- Instagram: add the “Paid partnership” label and tag the brand as the partner.
- YouTube: tick “Paid promotion” in the video’s details. For Shorts, say it in the caption too.
- Caption tags we recognise: #ad, #advert, #sponsored, #paidpartnership, #gifted (for free products), or words like “Paid partnership with” or “AD |” at the start.
Put the label where people see it without tapping “more”: at the start of the caption, or on screen in the first seconds of the video.
4. Good and not good enough
Good
- “#ad Tried the new Glow serum for a week. Here’s what happened.”
- “Gifted by Zuri. My honest first look.”
- “AD | Use my code ADA10 for 10% off. I earn a small commission.”
Not good enough
- A tag buried after twenty hashtags, or only in a comment.
- “#sp”, “#spon”, or “thanks to the brand”, which don’t say you were paid.
- Saying a product is something you “just found” when the brand paid or sent it.
5. Honest claims
- Only say what you believe from your own use. Don’t invent results, before-and-afters or reviews.
- Stick to the claims in the brief. If a brand asks you to say something you can’t stand behind, tell them in the chat or tell us.
- No health, weight-loss, cure, or guaranteed-income claims unless the brand shows they’re approved and true.
6. Regulated products
Adverts for some products need approval from ARCON (and sometimes other regulators such as NAFDAC or the Central Bank of Nigeria) before they run. On Flendy these briefs carry an extra note. They include:
- alcohol;
- loans, investments, crypto, trading, insurance, savings and betting;
- medicines, supplements, herbal products and anything with health claims.
For these, the brand is responsible for the approval. Ask them to confirm it before you post, follow any wording they give you exactly, and don’t take part if you’re under the legal age for the product. Alcohol and betting content must never be aimed at under-18s.
7. What Flendy checks
- Every brief carries a disclosure line for its campaign type.
- When a post is submitted we check its caption for a label. If there isn’t one, the brand sees a warning when they review it.
- Brands can ask for an unlabelled post to be fixed before they approve it. Repeatedly posting paid content without a label can lead to removal from campaigns under the acceptable use policy.
8. Questions
Not sure whether or how to label a post? Ask in the campaign chat or email hello@flendy.co before you post. This guide is general guidance, not legal advice.