"Use my code for 20 percent off" sits under countless Reels. If you get a commission, free product or any other benefit from that code, you have what the FTC calls a material connection, and your audience needs to know about it. The FTC's guide Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers explains how.
This article summarizes the points that matter for short videos. It is not legal advice, and rules differ by country, so check what applies where you and your audience are.
The short version
- A code you earn from is an endorsement with a material connection.
- Put the disclosure where people can't miss it, in the video and next to the code.
- Plain words work: ad, sponsored, advertisement. Vague ones like sp, spon or collab don't.
When does a discount code need a disclosure?
According to the FTC, you need to disclose any financial, employment, personal or family relationship with a brand. Payment counts, and so do free or discounted products and other perks you receive for mentioning something. An affiliate commission on sales through your code is a financial relationship.
If you bought the product yourself and nobody gives you anything for mentioning it, there is nothing to disclose. The moment a code earns you money, there is.
Disclosure built into the TikTok step
When you post to TikTok through BestPost, the publishing dialog asks whether your video promotes something.
- Sends the same video to Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and X
- Every text stays editable until you post
- Publishes from the server, your browser can stay closed
Where does the disclosure have to go?
The FTC's main rule is that the disclosure must be hard to miss and sit with the endorsement itself:
| Placement | What the FTC says |
|---|---|
| Next to the code or link | Where the disclosure belongs |
| Bio or profile page only | Likely to be missed |
| End of the post, or behind More | Likely to be missed |
| Mixed into a group of hashtags | Doesn't work |
| In a video | In the video itself, not only in the description |
| In a live stream | Repeated, so people who join later see it |
For videos, the FTC adds that the disclosure should be both spoken and shown on screen, since some viewers watch without sound. And it should be in the same language as the endorsement.
Which words count as a clear disclosure?
The FTC keeps it simple. Words like "advertisement", "ad" and "sponsored" work, and so does a plain sentence such as thanking a brand for the free product. A hashtag like #ad or #sponsored is fine but optional. Vague labels like "sp", "spon" or "collab", or a stand-alone "thanks" or "ambassador", don't make the relationship clear.
Unclear
- #spon buried among twenty hashtags
- "Thanks @brand" with nothing else
- Disclosure only in your bio
- Code shown on screen without a word
Clear
- "Ad" at the start of the caption
- "Ad: use my code for 20 percent off"
- Disclosure in every post with a code
- Code on screen with "Ad" spoken and shown
Rules elsewhere can be stricter. In Germany, for example, the state media authorities say abbreviations like "ad" and English phrases like "sponsored by" are not enough for a German audience.
What does it look like in a Reel?
The safest disclosure reaches people however they consume your video:
Say it
Mention it when you give the code, for example: this is an ad, my code gets you a discount on your first month.
Show it
Put "Ad" on screen while the code is visible, large enough to read on a phone.
Write it
Start the caption with the disclosure and put the code right after it.
Add the platform label
Switch on the platform's own disclosure tool as well, covered below.
Disclosure on screen, no extra app
In BestPost's editor you add text like "Ad" to the video and trim it in the same step.
- Trims in the browser and cuts silence and filler words
- Creates subtitles, you fix every word, BestPost burns them in
- Its own text per platform, the same video file
What do the platforms offer?
Instagram has a paid partnership label and TikTok has a setting for promotional content. The FTC advises against relying on a platform tool alone, so use it together with your own disclosure.
When you publish to TikTok through BestPost, the Disclose commercial content switch sits right in the dialog before publishing. You say whether you are promoting yourself (Your brand) or another brand (Branded content). TikTok then labels the video as "Promotional content" or "Paid partnership". With a paid partnership, TikTok doesn't allow the "Only me" visibility.
And if you recommend BestPost?
If you recommend BestPost through its affiliate program, the same rules apply: make the commission clear, right where you share your code or link. The text templates in the partner area already include a disclosure. How the program works, and what to look for in affiliate programs in general, is covered in affiliate programs for creators.