Hey There!
You’ve most likely landed on this article because you recently received a StreamElements sponsorship campaign and want to ensure you don’t get into legal trouble with the Federal Trade Commission (aka FTC) or do anything to harm your channel status with Twitch when running your campaign.
👍 Good news: our StreamElements sponsorship campaigns are 100% compliant with Twitch’s branded content guidelines & you don’t have to do much to make sure you are all good with FTC advertising guidelines. In this article, we will explore the key requirements outlined by the FTC and Twitch to ensure your sponsored livestreams are compliant.
How to Comply with FTC Advertising Guidelines:
To comply with FTC advertising guidelines you must make sure you clearly let viewers know that your sponsored livestream is a part of a branded promotion. The best way to do this is by including the hashtag #Ad or #Sponsored directly into the title of your livestream. This disclosure should be visible to viewers throughout the entire duration of the sponsored content.
Important Note: some campaigns will require the specific usage of the word '#Ad' or '#Sponsored', so always remember to follow the campaign specific instructions on this.
Also you will need to include this disclosure in your social media posts by including #Ad or #Sponsored within the post message.
Examples:
Are StreamElements Sponsored Campaigns Safe to Run on Twitch?
Simple answer, yep!
Below we will dive a little deeper into why, this way we can ease your concerns regarding whether or not our StreamElements sponsorship campaigns are ‘ok’ to run on Twitch.
There’s two key sections to be familiar with in Twitch’s Terms of Service agreement that outline why StreamElements sponsorship campaigns are 100% compliant.
Section 12: Advertisements
Key line: However, you can publish Branded Content using the Twitch Services as set forth in Section 9 above.
Section 9: Branded Content
Key lines: Twitch allows you to publish Branded Content using the Twitch Services provided that your Branded Content complies with these Terms of Service and applicable law.
If you choose to publish Branded Content on the Twitch Services you agree to use Twitch’s Branded Content tool, which provides a written disclosure to viewers that your live stream contains Branded Content.
TL:DR - as long as you use Twitch’s branded content disclosure tool in the Creator Dashboard to let your viewers know your stream includes branded content, you are good to run a StreamElements sponsored campaign on your channel.
How to Use the Twitch Branded Content Disclosure Tool:
The Branded Content Disclosure tool can be found in your Twitch Stream Manager. The tool enables you to easily notify your community that your stream includes branded content.
To use the disclosure tool:
- Click Edit Stream Info in Stream Manager
- Check Branded Content
By selecting Branded Content in Stream Manager, you will enable an automated disclosure message on your stream, and stream archives shown below.
Conclusion:
And there you have it. Just remember to incorporate clear disclosures using #Ad or #Sponsored in your livestream title & utilize Twitch's branded content disclosure tool.
If you stick to these guidelines your StreamElements sponsored streams will be fully compliant with FTC Advertising & Twitch Branded Content Guidelines.
If you run into any issues with your sponsored campaign, please reach out to our Support Team by clicking this link & submitting a support ticket and they will assist you.