The FTC this summer released new regulations to clarify expectations for individuals who make money using their social media platforms. Credit: Shutterstock / Okan Sumer

In a city with as rich a culinary scene as San Antonio, someone need not spend long scrolling on their phone, tablet or computer before landing on a feed full of beautiful food photos.

What’s not so prevalent is any kind of disclosure whether the online influencer posting the images got a free meal in exchange for sharing them — or even whether they received cash for creating the content.

San Antonio’s foodie influencer community spans all kinds of people, cuisines and backgrounds, from beer lovers to pastry pros to folks that simply love dining out. What connects them all is growing expectation that they be truthful and transparent, especially when they’re being compensated for sharing their experiences.

The Federal Trade Commission this summer released new regulations to clarify expectations for individuals who make money — or snag other perks such as free food, products or experiences — using their social media platforms. The FTC describes the term “influencer” as any individual who works with brands to recommend or endorse products to an audience.

“Telling your followers about these kinds of relationships is important because it helps keep your recommendations honest and truthful, and it allows people to weigh the value of your endorsements,” the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection told the Current via email.

Those relationships aren’t just limited to money, according to the FTC. According to the agency’s online guide, “Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers,” a social media user should reveal any relationships with a business or product in which they received anything of value in exchange for an online mention.

The FTC calls that stipulation a “common-sense premise,” but many well-known San Antonio influencers don’t comply.

“Pretty much none of us do … across the board, in any city that I’ve watched,” said Amanda Spencer, known online as S.A. Foodie. “So, I think what it comes down to is [that the majority of] people who follow us, I think they know most of us are getting compensated for each post that we make locally.”

S.A. Foodie — a repeat winner in the Best Influencer category of the Current‘s Best of San Antonio reader polls — began 10 years ago as a food photography-focused Facebook account. It’s since grown into a community of followers that numbers nearly 400,000 on Instagram and more than 500,000 on TikTok.

Despite S.A. Foodie’s decision to ignore the FTC guidelines, Spencer’s account remains an attractive way for San Antonio-area businesses looking to grow their own following, marketing experts said.

“For somebody … who wants to see the bang for the buck, you hire S.A. Foodie because you’re going to see an immediate return on investment within the first week,” marketing guru and founder of food and beverage-focused firm Embark Marketing Kim Beechner said. “There are some influencers that maybe are just starting out and are trying to break into that influencer market. Those people are more hungry, and I tell my clients, ‘Those are the people to give the chance … because they need content to grow their account.’ It’s a win-win.”

Wild, wild West

The issue with newcomers to the influencer scene — as well as new bar and restaurant owners looking to leverage social media — is that many of them are unaware of the federal regulations. These rules apply to everyone who arranges an exchange of money, time or goods for social posts, including the influencer, the business and any ad agencies or public relations teams involved.

Amanda Hill, who chairs St. Mary’s University’s Communication Studies program, said a lack of education around online ethics, including the FTC guidelines, isn’t an excuse.

“I don’t know at what point you get the Instagram checkmark, but if you had to go through short modules that outline the ethical guidelines of how to post, a system of checks and balances, that would definitely educate people, and make them aware of how [these regulations] work,” said Hill, the author of a forthcoming book on the ethics of online storytelling. “I do think there’s got to be something, because we will just kind of run into the wild, wild West if we don’t create that means.”

Drew Henry, founder of San Antonio’s Eat It Up Marketing and a former interior-design influencer, agrees.

He pointed to loop giveaways, a marketing phenomenon made popular by online celebs including Keeping up with the Kardashians star Kylie Jenner, as another way influencers and brands muddy the ethical waters. In a loop giveaway, a brand encourages people to follow it and its associates by teasing giveaways, whether of cash or its own products.

In 2019, Jenner promoted a $20,000 giveaway that including nine luxury bags. The campaign was a huge hit, and the associated brands gained thousands of new followers and a dramatic increase in traffic. That well-publicized marketing win paved the way for loop giveaways on a much smaller scale.

Henry says the technique remains effective, and even though it’s well-known among social media marketers, that’s not the case among most consumers. The result is that some followers may think an influencer wields more online clout than they actually do.

“Accounts don’t even have to publicly say that they’re in the loop giveaway,” Henry said. “[Influencers] can create giveaway posts and craft captions telling followers to go to the associated accounts and follow everyone listed. Those secondary accounts could be on that follow list without ever disclosing details about their involvement publicly on their own feeds.”

In other words, loop giveaways and other similar practices make for a boost in followers and engagement — likes, comments and reshares, for example — that looks organic even though they got what amounts to a financial push. Meanwhile, followers have no way of knowing what kind of deals have been cut behind closed doors.

Stiff penalties

To help clarify, the FTC’s updated regulations outline language it expects influencers to use when posting paid content — as well as promotions of brands with which they have an employment, personal or family relationship.

And remember that the agency’s rules apply to any goods, experiences or services the influencer receives in exchange for the post, whether or not the agreement involved a traditional financial arrangement.

Further, the disclosures need to be clear and placed so that they’re nearly impossible to miss, according to the FTC. Captions that thank a brand for free product or experience will suffice, as well as those that include terms such as “advertisement,” “ad” and “sponsored.” The disclosures also must be visible without the viewer having to tap the “more” button in a caption.

If it’s as simple as including the words “paid partnership” or “sponsored” in a caption, why aren’t more local-level influencers sticking to the guidelines — whether to cover their own asses or to be ethical and transparent?

“It could be that, for some influencers, they’ve noticed posts with ‘#ad’ or ‘#sponsor,’ are not as likely to garner engagement,” marketing expert Henry explained. “Their followers are historically more likely to scroll past those posts. But there are other ways to disclose partnerships, especially if they’re gifted goods, or [an influencer is] collecting a fee directly. Something along the lines of, ‘my friends at XYZ business treated me’ or ‘hosted me.’ Language along those lines can also convey the relationship that’s happening.”

Whether San Antonio influencers decide to abide by the FTC’s new guidelines, they should know the repercussions can be stiff. In January, the agency raised the maximum civil penalty for each violation to more than $50,000.

The potential penalty applies whether the offender has millions of followers or just a few. “The number of followers or the reach of an influencer campaign is not necessarily a deciding factor in whether we choose to investigate a matter or bring a case,” the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection said in its email to the Current.

However, bureau staff said they consider the “extent and reach” of any campaign they investigate.

“The Endorsement Guides do say that brand connections only need to be disclosed when the connection ‘is not reasonably expected by the audience,'” according to the FTC. “But we think influencers should err on the side of transparency — that’s the safest course of action for them and the best for their audience.”

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This article appears in Sep 6-19, 2023.

Nina Rangel uses nearly 20 years of experience in the foodservice industry to tell the stories of movers and shakers in the food scene in San Antonio. As the Food + Nightlife Editor for the San Antonio...