Glossary
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing means working with people who have an audience, usually creators on Instagram or other platforms, so they promote your product to their followers. The deal can be money, free products or a commission. When there is a deal, the post usually has to say so.
Updated 6 October 2026
A way to promote a product by working with creators who have their own audience, paying them, gifting them or sharing sales, so their followers see it from them.
How a deal usually works
- Flat fee: the brand pays a set price for a post, Reel or Story.
- Gifted product: the creator keeps the product, with or without a post being promised.
- Commission: the creator is paid a share of sales that come through their link or code.
- Ongoing partner: a longer arrangement, often called an ambassador deal.
A brief covers what to show, what not to claim, how many posts, the dates and the link or code. Agree it in writing, along with whether you may reuse the content in your own ads, because that is a separate permission from the post itself.
Measuring whether it worked
Give every creator their own tracked link or coupon code so you can tie sales to the person who earned them. Then work out a simple cost per result. If you paid 20,000 rupees for a Reel that produced 40 orders, each order cost 500 rupees before product costs. Compare that with what an order is worth to you.
Reach and likes are weaker signs than clicks and sales. A creator with a loyal niche audience can beat one with a bigger but looser following, which is the reasoning behind micro-influencers.
The disclosure rule
The US Federal Trade Commission’s guide for influencers says to disclose a relationship with a brand, including free or discounted products, even when the brand did not ask you to mention it. It says the disclosure should sit with the endorsement and be hard to miss, not buried among hashtags or behind a “more” link. It also says not to rely on a platform’s own disclosure tool alone.
The FTC is a US body, so check the rules where you and your audience live. A brand that hires creators should put the disclosure requirement into the brief, even though the guide says the duty to disclose falls on the influencer.
An example
A small skincare brand sends a free serum to a creator with a loyal niche following. The brief asks for one Reel, a clear “gifted” line at the start of the caption and a link carrying that creator’s own tag, so the brand can count orders from it.
Questions people ask
Do I have to pay influencers?
No. Many deals are product only, and some are commission only. Smaller creators often accept gifts, while larger ones usually want a fee. Either way, a gift counts as a relationship that has to be disclosed.
How do I find an influencer to work with?
Start with people who already talk about your category, tag you or follow you. Look at their comments to see whether real people respond, not just the follower count. Meta runs its own tools for matching brands and creators, so check your own app.
Is influencer marketing the same as affiliate marketing?
They overlap. Affiliate marketing pays a commission for sales through a tracked link or code. Influencer marketing is the wider idea of using a creator’s audience, and a deal may use a flat fee, commission or both.
What should the post say to be compliant?
Per the FTC guide, simple wording such as “ad”, “sponsored” or “thanks to the brand for the free product” can be enough if it is easy to see. It advises against vague terms like “collab” or a bare “ambassador”. Follow the rules where you are.
Sources
Related terms
- Micro-influencerA creator with a relatively small but focused audience, often in one niche, whom brands work with because their followers tend to know them and listen.
- Brand ambassadorSomeone who represents a company over a longer period, usually by using and promoting its products to their own audience. Payment can be money, products or a commission.
- Affiliate linkA product link carrying your personal tracking code. If a click turns into a purchase, the seller pays you a commission, and your audience should be told about it.
- User-generated content (UGC)Content such as photos, videos and reviews made by your customers or fans, not by your brand, and later shared or featured by the brand with the creator’s consent.
- Whitelisting (partnership ads)A brand runs ads that appear to come from a creator’s own handle, after the creator has approved it. Meta’s name for this is partnership ads.
- Coupon codeA coupon code is a short code a buyer enters at checkout for a discount, such as a percentage or fixed amount off, with limits the seller sets, like an expiry date.
More terms
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