All the new rules for influencer marketers
Is the party (for influencers) over? Agcom has approved guidelines for digital creators on advertising, transparency and protection of minors. Fines range from 10 to 600 thousand euros. All the details
Agcom, or the Communications Regulatory Authority, gave the green light to the new rules on influencers yesterday, but assures that it has nothing to do with Chiara Ferragni 's pandoro-gate which has been in the headlines for weeks. In fact, as reiterated by the president of the Authority, Giacomo Lasorella, as well as rapporteur of the new rules for digital creators, this is a work that began a year ago and which has now been put in black and white.
Here is who the parties involved are, what instructions they will have to respect and what is expected in the event of an infringement.
WHO ARE THE INFLUENCERS WHO MUST COMPLY WITH THE GUIDELINES
To outline the guidelines, Agcom starts from the definition of influencer, i.e. "subjects who create, produce and disseminate audiovisual content to the public, over which they exercise editorial responsibility, via video sharing platforms and social media".
The rules, adds the Authority, are "addressed to influencers operating in Italy who reach, among other things, at least one million followers on the various platforms or social media on which they operate and have exceeded a value on at least one platform or social media of an average engagement rate equal to or greater than 2% (i.e., which aroused reactions from users, through comments or likes, in at least 2% of the contents published)”.
THE ADVERTISING NODE
Starting from these considerations, digital creators – considered suppliers of audiovisual media services – are therefore required to comply with obligations on advertising, transparency and protection of minors, as already happens for TV.
“The audiovisual media sector – traditional media – is regulated very precisely. Clear rules protect minors, women and people in general. Precise rules stop hateful words and discrimination. In this context, when a television broadcasts advertising, it must comply with strict requirements. [For example], forms of occult or subliminal advertising are strictly prohibited,” explained President Lasorella in an interview with Repubblica .
In fact, "in the case of content with product placement, influencers are required to display writing that highlights the advertising nature of the content in a readily and immediately recognizable way", states the note.
DOES TRUST IN THE CREATOR TRANSLATE INTO A PURCHASE?
The advertising issue is important especially in light of the result it has on the actual purchase of products promoted by creators and influencers. From a survey by the InSIdE Observatory, reported by Vanity Fair , it emerges that "57% of the public (and therefore over 21 million people in Italy) consider and buy a product recommended by the creator".
Then there are differences between the various age groups: “More than 80% of boomers [born between 1946 and 1964, ed. ] proceed to purchase beauty products, followed by cinema and fashion. For GenX [born between 1965 and 1980, ed. ] interest is concentrated in cinema, cuisine and beauty, while Millennials [born between 1980 and 1996, ed .] buy clothing and many more trips in the previous categories. For GenZ [born between 1997 and 2012, ed .], however, cinema, TV series and video games are the most purchased".
THE SANCTIONS
Therefore, based on the provisions of the Consolidated Law on Audiovisual Media Services (Tusma), influencers and creators who do not comply with the rules on transparency on advertising face sanctions ranging from 10 to 250 thousand euros and fines ranging from 30 thousand to 600 thousand euros in case of infringement of the obligations to protect minors.
They are also required to comply with corporate transparency obligations, as well as pluralism and non-discrimination obligations.
THE NUMBERS OF CREATORS/INFLUENCERS IN ITALY
It is difficult to establish a precise number but, based on recent estimates , there are 350 thousand influencers in Italy. According to the DeRev company, in 2022 the turnover on social media was 308 million and in 2023 it was estimated that it would rise to 348 million (+13%), with the necessary differences depending on the platform. The company specifies, in fact, that compensation for a contribution from celebrities with millions of followers can reach up to 80 thousand euros, while micro influencers with a following of 10 thousand people can obtain from 50 to 1,500.
Italians are a nation of followers and, according to Il Sole 24 Ore , "during the preparatory work of Agcom, it was put on record that the 100th of the most famous Italian TikTokers has 2.8 million followers; the same 100th on Instagram has 2.7 million followers while the 100th most famous YouTuber in Italy has 2.8 million”.
Therefore, according to Buzzoole's calculations for the business newspaper, "in Italy there are over 1,300 social profiles with over 1 million followers overall on Instagram and TikTok", of which more than 600 on the Meta platform and more than 700 on the Chinese social network by Bytedance.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/tutte-le-nuove-regole-per-gli-influencer-markettari/ on Thu, 11 Jan 2024 09:49:57 +0000.