Turn on TikTok's commercial content disclosure setting when you promote your own business or promote another brand for payment or another incentive. Choose the correct relationship, then add a clear disclosure within the video that meets the guidance for the markets you reach. The platform label alone does not settle every advertising requirement.
TikTok's Help Center requires the setting for these commercial posts. For U.S. audiences, the FTC's influencer guidance expressly warns against assuming a platform's disclosure tool is enough. Treat the setting and the viewer-facing explanation as separate prepublish checks.
Decide which relationship you are disclosing
Start with what connects you to the business. A fee is only one possibility. TikTok includes other incentives in its third-party promotion rule. The FTC's U.S. guidance includes free or discounted products, employment, and personal or family relationships among connections that may need disclosure.
Use this table to choose the TikTok setting for a commercial post:
| What the post promotes | TikTok selection | Resulting label |
|---|---|---|
| Your own brand or business | Your brand | Promotional content |
| Another business in exchange for payment or another incentive | Branded content | Paid partnership |
These are TikTok's documented choices and labels. A free product does not become an unpaid, unrelated recommendation merely because no cash changes hands. Assess the relationship before deciding that a post needs no disclosure.
The format is a separate question. Later's campaign examples include affiliate activity and informal product reviews. A conversational review can still be commercial. Check the arrangement behind the video rather than judging whether it looks like a polished advertisement.
If the arrangement is unclear, ask the brand what you receive, whether you earn commission, and what it expects you to publish. Resolve that before recording your disclosure.
Turn on the setting before publishing
The current TikTok instructions give this app workflow:
- Create the post and reach the post screen.
- Open Content disclosure and ads. If you are outside TikTok One, TikTok directs you through More options first.
- Turn on Disclose commercial content.
- Choose Your brand or Branded content according to the relationship.
- Tap Save, then Continue to confirm.
- Return to the post screen and complete your final review before posting.
For a browser upload, TikTok documents a separate path through Show more and Disclose post content. LIVE has its own Content disclosure control under Settings. Use the instructions for the format you are publishing.
For an existing post, TikTok says to open the post from your profile, choose More options, then Ad settings to enable disclosure. It also warns that a published disclosure label cannot be changed. If you chose the wrong type, the documented remedy is to remove the post and create a new one with the correct choice. Selecting the relationship before publication avoids that rework.
Review brand tagging separately
TikTok allows you to tag a brand partner for branded content. Its Help Center says tagging can give the brand asset-level post insights and can grant advertising and anchor permissions.
Read the permissions shown before confirming a tag. Agreeing to identify a commercial relationship should not become an unexamined decision about advertising use. If the brand intends to promote the video, use the separate Spark Ads permissions checklist to review that request.
Put an understandable disclosure in the video
For endorsements affecting U.S. consumers, the FTC recommends putting the disclosure in the video itself. A description-only disclosure can be missed. The guidance also says that using both audio and visible wording can help people notice the disclosure, including viewers watching without sound.
A practical approach is to place readable wording at the start and say the relationship aloud before the product endorsement. This placement is an editorial recommendation based on the cited guidance, rather than a universal TikTok timing rule. Avoid hiding the wording behind interface controls or placing it only at the end.
The disclosure should use the same language as the endorsement. A profile biography, earlier sponsored post, or buried caption cannot reliably explain the relationship to someone encountering this video alone.
Hypothetical paid-product example
Suppose a backpack company pays a creator to demonstrate a bag. The creator can prepare this disclosure package:
| Element | Illustrative choice |
|---|---|
| TikTok relationship | Branded content |
| Expected platform label | Paid partnership |
| Opening on-screen wording | Ad. This backpack company paid me to make this video. |
| Spoken opening | Identify the company and explain that it paid for the video. |
| Caption opening | Ad, followed by the brand name and the relevant paid relationship. |
This is a hypothetical example, not a legal approval or a real campaign. Use wording that matches the actual arrangement. If the only benefit was a free product, do not claim a fee. If you also earn commission, include that relationship in the disclosure review.
Put the disclosure into the script before filming. Our guide to writing a TikTok brief around the first explanation helps place it alongside the opening product explanation without scripting every sentence.
Ask region-specific questions
U.S. and UK guidance overlap on visibility, but their examples of acceptable wording differ. Avoid copying one market's shorthand into another market's campaign without review.
| Review question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Could the post foreseeably affect U.S. consumers? | The FTC says U.S. law can apply to posts made abroad in that situation. |
| Does the campaign reach the UK? | ASA/CAP guidance favors a prominent upfront Ad label and warns against relying on words such as gifted or sponsored. |
| Which languages do viewers need? | The FTC calls for disclosure in the endorsement's language. Check local guidance for each version. |
| Will viewers see the disclosure before expanding anything? | Both cited authorities warn against hidden or hard-to-notice disclosures. |
| Does the product or intended audience need extra review? | UK CAP guidance notes that product-specific rules and additional protections for children may apply. |
The UK ASA/CAP guidance says a native platform label may be sufficient when clear, prominent and upfront. It also warns that the label may need additional Ad wording. That is a reason to inspect the finished post rather than treating the switch as a compliance certificate.
This workflow covers platform settings and selected U.S. and UK guidance. It is not legal advice or a review of every market. Ask the brand's regional reviewer or a qualified adviser to resolve unclear local requirements before publication.
Prepublish disclosure checklist
Use this recommended checklist on the final video and caption:
- Identify every relevant benefit or connection, including gifts and commission.
- Select the matching TikTok commercial-content category and confirm it saved.
- Check that the video explains the relationship where viewers can see and understand it.
- Watch with sound off to check visible wording, then listen to the opening disclosure.
- Check caption truncation and whether interface controls cover the wording.
- Confirm the disclosure language and market-specific review.
- Review brand tagging and advertising permissions separately.
- Keep the final disclosure wording and approval record with the campaign brief.
Disclosure does not answer the separate question of whether the soundtrack is cleared for this use. Before publishing, check TikTok music for commercial content as a separate review.
Open the final draft now. Confirm the selected relationship, then replay the first product endorsement as a viewer who has never seen your profile.
