TikTok Content Disclosure: Your Brand or Branded Content?

Choose the label from the real relationship, then make that relationship clear where viewers encounter the endorsement.

By Trytagly Editorial Team · Updated 2026-07-31

Start with the relationship, not the tone of the video

Choose Your brand when the post promotes a business, product, or service you own or operate. Choose Branded content when you promote someone else’s brand because you received money, a free or discounted product, commission, access, or another incentive. If you mention a product independently and have no relationship or incentive, that mention is generally not a paid partnership—but it still needs to be truthful.

A casual review can still be commercial, and a polished product video can still be independent. The deciding question is not whether the post feels like an ad; it is whether the creator is promoting a business and what relationship exists behind the recommendation.

TikTok includes promotion of your own business within commercial content. It also treats third-party promotion in exchange for payment or another incentive as branded content. The Federal Trade Commission uses the broader idea of a material connection: a relationship that could affect how viewers evaluate an endorsement. Money is one example, but free products, discounts, employment, and personal or family relationships can matter too.

Your own course, studio, app, store, or consulting service: turn disclosure on and choose Your brand.
A company pays you or sends a free product to feature: choose Branded content and explain the connection.
You may earn commission from a Shop product link, affiliate link, or code: choose Branded content and disclose the commission.
You bought the product normally, have no relationship, and receive no benefit: do not invent a paid partnership.

Know what TikTok’s two choices communicate

Selecting Your brand produces a Promotional content label. It fits owner-led promotion: a florist showing arrangements available from her shop, a trainer selling his program, or a software founder demonstrating a paid feature.

Selecting Branded content produces a Paid partnership label. It fits promotion performed on behalf of another business, including relationships involving payment or other incentives. TikTok may also let the creator tag a brand partner. That connection can support discovery in Content Suite, sharing post insights, and ad authorization, depending on the workflow and permissions.

Do not choose Branded content merely because a recognizable logo appears in an independent tutorial. Do not choose Your brand to make a third-party sponsorship sound less commercial. The label should describe the real relationship.

TikTok’s current Support page says turning on the setting does not affect distribution in feeds. That is the relevant platform statement; rumors that every disclosure automatically suppresses reach are not evidence. Undisclosed marketing content can violate TikTok’s rules, so treat accurate disclosure as a publishing requirement rather than a growth switch.

Use the VALUE check before publishing

Value exchanged: list anything you received or may receive—cash, a sample, discount, travel, access, affiliate commission, contest entry, or another benefit. Then ask whether the post promotes the source of that value.

Affiliation: identify relationships viewers may not know, including owner, employee, contractor, investor, family member, ambassador, or ongoing client. “Nobody paid me for this exact post” does not erase a standing relationship.

Label: turn on TikTok’s commercial content disclosure and choose Your brand or Branded content from the relationship, not from which label looks better. The control may appear under Content disclosure and ads or More options as interfaces change.

Understandable disclosure: make the connection clear in the post. “Paid partnership with Brand,” “Gifted by Brand,” or “I may earn a commission” explains more than a vague thank-you. The FTC advises placing disclosure with the endorsement, making it hard to miss, and using simple language. For video, it advises putting the disclosure in the video rather than only in the description.

Evidence and edit check: save the approved caption, disclosure language, selected toggle, correct brand, and any authorization choice. Disclosure and ad permission are different decisions; confirm usage rights and authorization against the campaign agreement.

Add disclosure to the scheduled-post handoff · Separate commercial disclosure from AI-content labeling

Apply the workflow to common posts

A bakery owner promoting a new menu should select Your brand. A skincare creator reviewing a free serum should select Branded content and say it was gifted, even if the brand did not require a positive review.

A creator using a commission-earning Shop product link has a financial relationship. Select Branded content and state the commission relationship plainly; a product link alone may not explain how the creator benefits.

An employee sharing a favorite feature from work should disclose the employment relationship and select the commercial option that accurately represents the third-party company relationship. A creator recommending a restaurant they paid for, with no invitation, reimbursement, discount, family connection, or other benefit, should not manufacture a paid partnership.

When roles change, update the decision. A creator who first bought a product independently but later accepts an affiliate link now has a connection for posts that promote that link.

Choose the correct TikTok Shop product link

Fix a missing or incorrect disclosure carefully

TikTok says creators can turn on commercial-content disclosure from an existing post through its ad settings. That can help when the correct disclosure was omitted.

There is an important limit: after a post is labeled Paid partnership or Promotional content, TikTok says the disclosure type cannot be changed. If the wrong type was selected, its Support instructions direct creators to remove the post and create a new one with the correct selection.

Before deleting anything, preserve the video, caption, campaign approval, and post URL, then contact the brand if the post is part of a contract or active advertising campaign. Deletion can affect reporting, comments, links, and ad authorization.

Adding a platform label later also does not rewrite what viewers already saw. If the relationship was unclear in the video itself, assess whether the post needs a corrected edit or replacement. For a consequential or disputed campaign, get advice from the brand’s compliance contact or qualified counsel rather than relying on a generic checklist.

Review reuse permissions separately from ad authorization

Frequently asked questions

Does turning on TikTok’s content disclosure setting reduce views? TikTok’s current Support documentation says turning on the setting will not affect distribution in feeds. Accurate disclosure is required for commercial content regardless of performance speculation.

Should I select Your brand for my small business? Yes, when the post promotes a business, product, or service you own or operate. TikTok says Your brand receives the Promotional content label.

Is a free product considered branded content? A gift creates a connection viewers may need to know. When you promote the third-party brand, select Branded content and clearly say the product was gifted.

Do TikTok Shop affiliates need to disclose commission? If you may earn commission from a link or code, use Branded content for the third-party promotion and tell viewers plainly that you may earn a commission.

Is TikTok’s Paid partnership label enough for the FTC? Do not assume a platform label resolves every situation. The FTC advises making disclosures clear, conspicuous, and placed with the endorsement; for video, the disclosure should appear in the video.

Can I add commercial disclosure after posting? TikTok says you can turn it on from an existing post’s ad settings. Once labeled Paid partnership or Promotional content, however, the type cannot be changed; an incorrect selection requires a replacement post.

Do I need disclosure when I bought the product myself? Not merely because you mention it. If you paid normally and have no payment, gift, commission, employment, family, or other material relationship, there may be no commercial connection to disclose.

Respond to an actual For You eligibility notice