Best Practices For Disclosing Affiliate Relationship

As an affiliate marketer, being transparent about your affiliate relationships is not just a best practice — it’s required by law in many cases. Failing to properly disclose when you’re earning commissions from recommendations can land you in hot water with regulators and diminish trust with your audience.

But disclosures don’t have to be awkward or undermine your affiliate income. When done right, they build credibility, enhance transparency, and allow you to monetize your content effectively. In this guide, we’ll cover affiliate disclosure best practices to keep you compliant and maintain your audience’s trust.

What is an Affiliate Disclosure?

An affiliate disclosure is a statement that notifies your readers/viewers when you are being compensated for promoting or recommending products and services through affiliate programs. It makes your relationship with the companies you’re affiliated with clear and transparent.

For example, if you share an affiliate link to a fitness product on your blog, you’d want to disclose that you earn a commission if someone makes a purchase through that link. The disclosure alerts readers that you have a financial incentive for promoting that product.

Why are Affiliate Disclosures Important?

There are a few key reasons why properly disclosing affiliate relationships is so crucial:

1. It’s the Law (At Least in Many Places)

In the U.S. and many other countries, failing to disclose affiliate relationships is considered deceptive marketing and a violation of advertising laws. The penalties can be significant, including fines and legal action.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires clear affiliate disclosures as part of its endorsement guidelines. In the U.K., the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) enforces similar disclosure rules through the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations. Many other countries have analogous laws on the books.

2. It Builds Trust With Your Audience

Even if it wasn’t legally required, disclosing your affiliate relationships is simply the right thing to do. Your audience deserves to know when you’re getting paid to promote something so they can make fully informed decisions.

Being upfront about your affiliate relationships enhances your credibility and helps build trust over the long-term. Failing to disclose comes across as shady and deceptive, even if that’s not your intent. Why risk losing the faith of your audience over a simple disclosure?

3. It’s Expected in Affiliate Marketing

Savvy consumers today generally understand the concept of affiliate marketing. They expect to see disclosures when you’re recommending something you’re compensated for.

That expectation becomes even greater when your content is clearly monetized with display ads, sponsorships, or other revenue sources. If you’re open about making money in other ways, you’d better be disclosing your affiliate deals as well.

Following Affiliate Disclosure Best Practices 

So how exactly should you be disclosing your affiliate relationships? Here are some key disclosure tips and examples to keep in mind:

1. Be Clear and Unambiguous

Your affiliate disclosures should be crystal clear, leaving no doubt that you earn commissions from certain recommendations. Don’t try to downplay the affiliate relationship or use vague language. Avoid saying things like “some links are affiliate links” when you really mean most or all links are affiliates.

2. Instead, use clear, direct language stating your affiliate status like:

“This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product through one of these links, I’ll earn a commission at no additional cost to you.”

3. Disclose Affiliate Status Prominently 

Affiliate disclosures should be prominently displayed, not buried where no one will see them. Common and recommended places to include a disclosure include:

  • At the top of a blog post or video description (before affiliate links)
  • On a dedicated Affiliate Disclosure page linked in your navigation menu
  • Next to or underneath each individual affiliate link
  • As a disclaimer before/during affiliate link mentions in videos 
  • As a pinned comment on videos with affiliate links

If you’re disclosing on a long page or video, repeat the disclosure periodically so it’s hard to miss.

4. Consider Visual Cues

In addition to text disclosures, you might consider adding some visual cues as well. Things like:

  • Bold, colored text for disclosures
  • Special formatting (e.g. boxes, banners, etc.) to call out disclosures
  • Icons or indicators next to affiliate links
  • Affiliate disclaimer sections with prominent headers 

Visual indicators can draw extra attention to your disclosures and drive the point home.

5. Disclose Before Affiliate Links

If you’re using affiliate links in content, be sure to disclose your relationship before hitting your audience with those links. The disclosure needs to be seen and acknowledged before the recommendation, not after.

Disclosing at the end of a blog post or video is too late. You want viewers to have full context as they encounter each affiliate link or promotion.

6. Avoid Deceptive “Disclaimer” Language

While you’ll sometimes hear affiliate disclosures referred to as “disclaimers”, avoid that terminology yourself as it can imply the language doesn’t really matter or apply in your specific case.

Don’t include wishy-washy statements like “This post may contain affiliate links” or “I may be compensated if you purchase through these links” either. Be direct and say you are being compensated, not that you might be compensated.

7. Keep it Simple

There’s no need to go overboard or use legal jargon in your disclosures.  You don’t have to outline the entire inner workings of affiliate programs or the nuances of different compensation models.  

Simple is better. Focus on clearly conveying that you have a financial stake in the promotion, not every last detail. Make sure your disclosure is easy for any audience member to understand.

8. Write Disclosures in Your Own Style

You want your disclosures to fit seamlessly in with the rest of your content. So write them in your own unique content style and voice.

For example, if you use a lot of humor and casual language on your blog, don’t suddenly shift to overly formal, dry legal language for disclosures. Keep the tone and wording consistent with how you normally communicate.

9. Some brief examples personalized for different content styles:

Casual/Conversational: “I have affiliate partnerships set up with some companies featured on this site. This means if you buy something after clicking on one of my links, I could earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.”

Straightforward: “This article contains affiliate links. I receive compensation if you purchase products through the included retailer links.”

Warm/Friendly: “Hi friends! I like to be fully transparent, so you should know that some of the brands I discuss in this video are affiliate partners. When you buy things through my links, I may get a small percentage back.”

10. Let Disclosures Apply Site-Wide 

While we’ve looked at examples disclosing on a per-post/video basis, you can also have a single “global” affiliate disclaimer that applies site-wide if you prefer.

Some creators have an affiliate disclosure page linked prominently in their site menu/navigation. Then at the beginning of every post or video with affiliate links, they just say “This post contains affiliate links. For my full disclosure, please visit this page: [link]”

This allows you to have one very robust, comprehensive disclosure policy document without repeating it verbatim across all your content.

11. Above All, Be Honest

The core principle behind affiliate disclosures should be honesty and authenticity. You’re simply being upfront with your audience about how you earn revenue from your content. There’s nothing shady or wrong about affiliate marketing as long as you’re transparent.

Never try to conceal, obscure, or deceive with your affiliate disclosures. If you’re up-front and make a good-faith effort to inform your audience, you’ll be in great shape from both a legal and ethical standpoint.

12. Maintain Audience Trust

At the end of the day, proper affiliate disclosures are all about maintaining audience trust and credibility. While the legal requirements provide a baseline, disclosures are really about being a trustworthy, authentic voice for your audience.

Even if you think your audience understands and is fine with you earning affiliate revenue, clearly disclose anyway. Over-disclosure is always better than under-disclosure when dealing with affiliate relationships. The more transparent you can be, the better your reputation and audience relationship will be. 

So always be honest, clear, and upfront with your disclosures. Doing so protects you legally, yes, but more importantly, it strengthens your integrity as a creator. Prioritize transparency over short-term monetization, and your audience will reward you with loyalty for the long haul.

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