CIPR releases influencer marketing panel guides

CIPR’s Influencer Marketing Panel has released three skill guides with updated regulations to help PRs practice influencer marketing ethically, legally and in line with the association’s Code of Conduct.

Compiled in consultation with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), ‘Introduction to Influencer Marketing’, ‘PR and Influencer Marketing – the rules and regulators’ and ‘PRs as Influencers – how to ethically disclose your relationships with clients and causes without misleading your online audience’ can be downloaded as PDFs.

The guides’ updated regulations include detail on why #client doesn’t provide enough disclosure without the addition of #ad and how important transparency is for legalities as well as honesty. Further clarification and outlining of requirements when sharing influencer content as an agency or in-house team will continue to be shared by the CIPR and Influencer Marketing Panel to encourage best practice.

‘One-in-three PR practitioners undertake influencer marketing activities, yet most lack confidence in relevant skills and experience,’ CIPR Influencer Marketing Panel co-chair Scott Guthrie said of the need for updated skill guides on the subject.

For co-chair Deb Sharratt, trust from clients is as important as confidence: ‘Knowing the rules and regulations regarding disclosure is paramount to this so that we can be the trusted PR advisors that our employers and clients need us to be.’

‘In the eyes of the law we’re all influencers now and have the ability to influence others,’ believes co-chair Anne-Marie Lacey. ‘We must all abide by the same rules around disclosure.’

Download the three skill guides on influencer marketing on the CIPR website.