Building Trust in the Creator Economy: A Q&A with #paid on Responsible Influence
Jennifer Santos, Program Manager, Institute for Responsible Influence, Center for Industry Self-Regulation
As the creator economy continues to grow, so does the need for greater clarity, consistency, and trust in how creators and brands work together. To help meet that need, the Center for Industry Self-Regulation is launching its Institute for Responsible Influence (IRI) training and certification program, designed to equip creators with the knowledge and tools to navigate advertising standards and responsible influence.
As part of the IRI Advisory Council, leading creator marketing platform #paid participated in the pilot phase of IRI’s Responsible Influence Certification Program, working closely with its creator community to help shape a framework grounded in real-world challenges.
We spoke with Sylvia Ta, Senior Manager of Creator Strategy & Acquisition at #paid, to discuss why #paid chose to get involved, what creators should know, and how certification can strengthen trust across the ecosystem.
It can be overwhelming even when a creator is trying to do it right. We hope this becomes clearer and more straightforward with this training.
As the creator economy continues to mature, initiatives like the IRI training and certification program play an important role in setting clearer expectations and strengthening trust among creators, brands, and audiences.
By equipping creators with practical guidance and a shared understanding of responsible influence, programs like this help support more transparent partnerships—and a more sustainable future for the industry as a whole.
As the creator economy continues to grow, so does the need for greater clarity, consistency, and trust in how creators and brands work together. To help meet that need, the Center for Industry Self-Regulation is launching its Institute for Responsible Influence (IRI) training and certification program, designed to equip creators with the knowledge and tools to navigate advertising standards and responsible influence.
As part of the IRI Advisory Council, leading creator marketing platform #paid participated in the pilot phase of IRI’s Responsible Influence Certification Program, working closely with its creator community to help shape a framework grounded in real-world challenges.
We spoke with Sylvia Ta, Senior Manager of Creator Strategy & Acquisition at #paid, to discuss why #paid chose to get involved, what creators should know, and how certification can strengthen trust across the ecosystem.
What motivated #paid to participate in the pilot phase of the IRI training program?
At #paid, we want to empower the creator economy and have always believed that the most powerful collaborations happen when creators and brands share that foundation of trust. The IRI pilot program is the perfect opportunity to bring more education and knowledge to creators, and continue to build trust in the creator economy.What are the most important takeaways from the training that creators should understand—and where do creators most commonly get it wrong today?
There can often be a lot of uncertainty around when, how, and where disclosures should be made when creators post their content. For example, if a creator received a gifted product but features it in a post 1 year later, does this still need disclosure? If so, how and what verbiage should be included? Where should it be included—the caption, the content?It can be overwhelming even when a creator is trying to do it right. We hope this becomes clearer and more straightforward with this training.
What value does this training and certification program offer creators?
Structured learning about responsible disclosure resulting in a certification can bring a lot of trust to creator audiences and brands that creators work with. The commitment also helps bolster confidence in the creator economy as a whole, which is valuable to all creators.From a brand or agency perspective, why does this training matter?
Safety is top of mind for most brands. It’s critical to build and maintain trust with consumer audiences. By being certified and working with creators who are certified, brands show initiative towards transparency and accountability. Consumers want that.Speaking to creators, who should consider taking this training and certification program?
This training and certification program is valuable for all creators, but even more so for those who work with brands and treat their social media as a business.Why is it important for a program like this to exist in today’s creator economy?
As the creator economy matures, there’s an increasing need for guidelines and regulations to protect consumer trust. Adherence to FTC requirements is key to this, and this training and certification makes it easy to digest FTC criteria and avoid errors.How do you see this training shaping the future of creator-brand partnerships?
Brand safety and trust is foundational in the creator economy, and we can see a future where a premium is placed on trained and certified creators because of their understanding and knowledge of requirements and expectations.As the creator economy continues to mature, initiatives like the IRI training and certification program play an important role in setting clearer expectations and strengthening trust among creators, brands, and audiences.
By equipping creators with practical guidance and a shared understanding of responsible influence, programs like this help support more transparent partnerships—and a more sustainable future for the industry as a whole.