Following up from our Meet the Media Panel Talk
Thank you to everyone who attended our ‘Content Creators & the Travel Industry – Guidelines, Opportunities and Best Practices for Growth’ panel at Meet the Media. The discussion was lively, insightful, and raised a number of important questions around best practices for content creators working with brands and destinations.
One key question came up during the Q&A and, due to time constraints, we were unable to answer it fully on the day. We’re addressing it here for clarity, particularly as it relates to the guidance issued by the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) and CCPC (Competition and Consumer Protection Commission) around advertising transparency.
The Question:
“If an influencer shares a link to a blog or external website that contains commercial or sponsored content, do they need to label it as an ad?”
The Answer:
Yes – in many cases, they do.
According to the Guidance for Influencers Advertising and Marketing, if you share a link to an external website, blog, or app that contains advertising, and you receive any benefit from this, then the social media post containing the link should be clearly labelled as ‘#Ad’.
This ensures that your audience is aware, before clicking, that they’re being directed to advertising content.
In addition:
- If you are linking to your own website, blog or app that features advertising or sponsored content, you must:
- Label the post that contains the link with #Ad
- Clearly indicate on your own website that the content is advertising
This applies whether the benefit you receive is financial (e.g. affiliate sales, paid placement) or non-financial (e.g. gifted experiences, PR samples, etc.).
The Rule of Thumb:
“If in doubt, label it.”
This guidance isn’t just about legal compliance — it’s also about maintaining trust with your audience. Transparency is a key part of building long-term relationships and credibility as a content creator in the travel industry.
You can find the full guidance document here:
Social Media Influencer Guidance – Advertising Standards Authority
We hope this clears things up, and thanks again to everyone who contributed to the conversation. If you missed the original talk, you can catch up here:
Content Creators & the Travel Industry – Guidelines, Opportunities and Best Practices for Growth