Rebel, does ad disclosure hurt reach? That’s the fear driving half the sponsored content out there, and coach Becca Holloway has the actual data to answer it. Once and for all, it’s not the disclosure tanking your numbers. In fact, you may have to give a hard look at everything else in the brief.
About Becca Holloway
Becca Holloway has worked in paid social for around twelve years and is one of AMS’s regular co-hosts and coaches, spending her days deep in Ads Manager.
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The Disclosure Isn’t the Problem
Research from Modash’s Anna Klappenbach (via a Girl Power Marketing Q&A) found the legally required “ad” label barely dents reach. Audiences have become so used to seeing it that it barely registers, it’s the content behind it doing all the work, or failing to.
- Stop treating the disclosure label as the reason a sponsored post underperforms
- Audit your last underperforming sponsored post: was it actually thin on substance, not the label?
- Reframe disclosure as a non-issue in your own briefs and conversations with creators
Brief Creators, Don’t Script Them
Over-prescribing the creative makes sponsored content feel alien next to a creator’s organic work, and both sides lose when that happens.
- Give creators the insight and goal, not a word-for-word script
- Trust their instinct for their own audience’s tone and format
- Review a recent brief: is it giving direction, or dictating every line?
Watch Time Kills More Campaigns Than Anything Else
A multi-product ad with a ~25-30 second runtime saw average watch time of just 8 seconds, meaning only the first product in the hook got real visibility.
- Brief separate, focused cuts per product rather than one list-format video
- Front-load your single most important message into the first 8 seconds
- Check your own watch-time data before assuming a low-performing ad was a “bad creative,” it might be a structure problem
Know your audience’s ad-literacy too, some audiences want the bluntness of a clear “#ad,” others are more skeptical depending on the niche. Ask them directly rather than assuming.