Can I add affiliate links to a paid brand deal, and how do I label both?

The table shows what to look for when you read the contract; it doesn’t tell you if a clause is valid. If it says nothing about links, clarify this before you sign and get the answer confirmed by email.

According to the guidelines of the German media authorities (die medienanstalten, May 2025), a post based on an agreement with a brand is always advertising, even if the benefit is something other than money. In image and text posts, “Werbung” or “Anzeige” goes at the start, ideally as the first word of the caption, visible without scrolling or expanding. If the product is the focus of a video, “Werbung” stays on screen for the whole video or the advertising sequence. If it only plays a supporting role, “Unterstützt durch Produktplatzierung” (supported by product placement) or “Unterstützt durch [product name]” at the start is enough. But if the video shows a discount code or where to get the product, the guidelines treat that sequence as advertising, not product placement.

For links, the guidelines treat a link from the brand deal and an affiliate link differently. A link you post as part of the brand deal gets “Werbung” or “Anzeige” right next to it. An affiliate link gets an asterisk and an explanation right next to it, such as a sentence saying you earn a commission on purchases through the link. The guidelines don’t deal separately with a link that is both, for example a commission link the brand gives you for the campaign. With “Werbung” plus the asterisk and explanation at the link, you cover both recommendations. A link or tag to the photographer who took the picture usually needs no label under the guidelines, as long as there is no brand deal or affiliate connection behind it.

So the “Werbung” at the start of the post doesn’t explain your affiliate links, and the asterisk doesn’t replace labelling the post. Legally, the point is that the commercial purpose is recognisable. Under § 5a(4) UWG, failing to make it clear is unfair unless it is obvious from the circumstances, and provided the omission is capable of leading people to a business decision they would not otherwise have made. For a post that promotes another business, it is presumed that you receive or have been promised something in return, unless you can credibly show that you haven’t. For image and text posts, § 22(1) sentence 1 MStV requires advertising to be clearly recognisable and separate from other content. For videos, for example on Instagram or TikTok, the guidelines apply the advertising rules for broadcasting. Under § 6(1) no. 2 DDG it must be clear on whose behalf you are advertising. So name the brand in the post.

On 9 September 2021, still under the previous version of the UWG, Germany’s Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) ruled (I ZR 90/20) that an Instagram post for which an influencer had received something in return from the manufacturer was not clearly enough labelled as advertising, and that the ban was justified. As the business decision in question, the court pointed to something as simple as clicking the link to the manufacturer’s Instagram profile.

An example with assumed contract details. Replace everything in square brackets in the templates. Only include the half-sentence about the price if it is true for the linked shop. The label words stay German: abbreviations such as “ad” or wording such as “sponsored by” are not enough under the guidelines.

1. Say a jacket brand pays you a fee for a reel. The contract specifies its campaign link and rules out other jacket brands for four weeks. In the reel you wear boots from another brand, which you want to link with an affiliate link.
2. Read the contract: the exclusion only names jacket brands. Still, check beforehand if the brand is happy to see another maker’s boots in the reel you make for it, and send the draft with all links and disclosures for approval.
3. Label the video: the jacket is the focus, so “Werbung” stays on screen for the whole video. The description starts with “Werbung” and names the brand.
4. Label the links: the campaign link to the jacket gets “Werbung” right next to it, the affiliate link to the boots an asterisk and the explanation directly below. That applies wherever the links appear, in the description just as on your link-in-bio page.
5. Story with a link sticker: “Werbung” goes on every slide that belongs to the brand deal. On the slide with the boots link, the asterisk and explanation sit right by the sticker.

Werbung | In collaboration with @[brand]

[Your caption]

Jacket by @[brand], Werbung: [campaign link]
Boots*: [affiliate link]

*Affiliate-Link: Kaufst du darüber, bekomme ich eine Provision. Dein Preis bleibt gleich.
*Affiliate link: if you buy through it, I earn a commission. Your price stays the same.

Slide shows the jacket from the brand deal, sticker links the boots.

At the top of the slide:
Werbung | In collaboration with @[brand]

On the link sticker:
Boots by [boot brand]: Affiliate-Link*

Right below:
*Kaufst du über diesen Link, bekomme ich eine Provision. Dein Preis bleibt gleich.
*If you buy through this link, I earn a commission. Your price stays the same.

• Ask your questions about links before you agree. The message below covers the main ones.
• Stick to the brand’s link requirements. If you swap its campaign link for your own, the clicks and sales from your post may be missing from its reporting.
• Don’t link competitors’ products in the sponsored post if the contract rules them out. During a blackout period, check your story highlights, bio and storefront too.
• Leave links and disclosures as the brand saw them when it approved the draft. If you want to swap a link in the sponsored post later, agree it with the brand first.
• If your agency negotiates for you, give it these questions in advance so the answers end up in the contract.

Hi [first name],

Before I confirm, one question about links: may I add my own affiliate links next to your campaign link in the post and story, for example to [product or category]?

Does the competitor exclusion also cover my bio and my storefront, and if so, for how long? And do I earn commission on top for purchases through an affiliate link to your shop, or is that covered by the fee?

I’ll label the post as advertising, and affiliate links get an asterisk with an explanation.

Best wishes
[Name]

For the sponsored post, your contract sets the rules. For what you recommend outside the brand deal, your wyrld storefront can be the link in your bio. You paste the link to a product from a partner shop, wyrld recognises the brand, name and variant, looks for the same item across over 90,000 partner shops and automatically creates the affiliate link for each offer it finds. You don’t sign up with any network yourself. Your community sees the offers with prices side by side and buys directly from the shop at no extra cost. Depending on the shop, you’re paid per click, per sale or both, settled at the start of the following month with a Gutschrift (self-billing credit note). wyrld labels the partner links on product pages; you label your own posts.

wyrld’s creator terms don’t require exclusivity. As far as wyrld is concerned, paid brand deals and other affiliate programmes alongside your storefront are possible. If your contract says you may only link to the brand’s own shop, check beforehand if the product from the deal can go into your wyrld storefront with price comparison. One limit is in § 6(2) of the creator terms: if you meet a brand through wyrld, you don’t take that business around wyrld to earn commission outside the platform. Through wyrld Boost, brands also pay for campaigns that run across many creators at once, based on KPIs they set in advance. For each campaign, the brand decides which shops people buy from, and you label campaign videos as advertising. Taking part is your decision.

If you work with an agency, it gets its own dashboard on wyrld, opens your storefront from there and looks after your products with you. If it negotiates a brand deal for you with a blackout period that also covers your storefront, it can see for itself which of the brand’s competitors are linked there. wyrld deducts the commission share you agree on from your earnings when it settles, and your agency receives its own credit note.