What are national associations doing on influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing has become an increasingly central component of brand strategy, offering new and dynamic ways to connect with audiences through trusted voices across digital platforms. What began as a niche tactic has rapidly evolved into a sophisticated ecosystem, with growing budgets and rising expectations.

According to WFA research, more than half of multinational brands plan to increase their investment in influencer marketing over the next 12 months. The vast majority (92%) are already active in the space, underscoring its importance as a mainstream marketing channel. Yet as spend rises, so too does scrutiny.

WFA’s Global Guidance on Influencer Marketing highlights how brands are managing this channel and the solutions they find work best.

Influencer marketing poses a series of challenges for marketers. Ensuring transparency and measuring impact remain persistent hurdles, particularly across diverse regulatory landscapes.

National advertiser associations are playing a critical role in helping brands navigate this complexity. Through cross-industry codes, practical guidance and close engagement with policymakers and platforms, they are working to ensure that influencer marketing grows in a way that is responsible, effective and trusted; setting a benchmark for accountability and best practice.

Canada

The Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA) actively supports the work of Ad Standards to ensure transparency and ethical practices in influencer marketing by promoting awareness and adherence to the Influencer Marketing Disclosure Guidelines. These guidelines emphasize clear disclosure of material connections between influencers and brands to maintain consumer trust and ensure compliance with Canada’s Competition Bureau’s Competition Act, which prohibits deceptive marketing practices, including undisclosed sponsorships. 

ACA also educates marketers through webinars and resources, emphasizing best practices such as upfront disclosure and the use of clear language to maintain consumer trust. All their efforts underscore ACA's commitment to fostering ethical advertising practices to ensure influencer marketing remains truthful and fair.

Finland

Marketing Finland has actively shaped influencer marketing practices in Finland since 2019, when they launched a set of ethical guidelines in collaboration with leading brands. The launch was supported by a joint event with YouTube.

In 2022, Marketing Finland established a dedicated working group on influencer marketing, fostering dialogue with regulators, industry stakeholders and influencers covering topics such as AI-generated influencers and self-regulation. Their initiative led to updated national guidelines, published in January 2025.

As of today, Marketing Finland has hosted three large-scale Influencer Forums to build commitment toward shared principles and, in spring 2025, launched a new influencer community under Marketing Finland to continue long-term engagement.

France

Union des Marques focuses on promoting ethical and responsible influencer marketing.

Since 2021, it has regularly brought together Influencers and Social Media Directors to share best practices and organize training activities to promote ethical and transparent influence marketing. Union des Marques is also a founding member of the Observatory of Responsible Influence, led by the ARPP (Professional Advertising Regulatory Authority) and actively contributes to the development of the responsible influencer certificate.

It also publishes tools, guides, and podcasts, including a six-episode capsule with Influence Corner exploring best practices and strategies in this field.

Malaysia

MAA is working closely with the Content Forum to promote ethical practices among influencers. While participation is currently voluntary, MAA sees a growing need for broader adoption of self-regulation in this space. They believe there is an opportunity for the industry to engage with government and relevant stakeholders and advocate for more robust oversight and accountability mechanisms.

In 2022, the Content Forum revised the Content Code to include clear requirements for influencers to disclose paid content, strengthening transparency and accountability in influencer marketing.

To support this, the Forum has rolled out several initiatives aimed at promoting responsible content creation. These include Vibe Check, a training session designed for influencers; the Creators IRL programme in collaboration with Meta; and TikTok’s #ThinkTwice campaign, which featured a Digital Safety Pledge to encourage ethical online behaviour.

The Forum also worked with the Ministry of Education to train more than 200 'edufluencers'—teachers who use social media to share educational content and public interest messages.

With 66 members representing broadcasters, advertisers, content creators, and digital platforms, the Content Forum continues to champion ethical standards across the industry. As the influence of digital content grows, fostering trust through self-regulation remains a shared responsibility.