Rules and ethics
Part of How to apply sales enablement rules and ethics across UK content
Before you publish a sales enablement disclosure policy
How to draft a sales enablement disclosure policy in England: what paid content must say, who signs it off, and a rubric to score every asset before it ships.
What to take away
- For sales enablement teams, a common failure is writing the policy after a sales deck has already gone out with a paid placement in it, then arguing about labels. Draft the rules first.
- Two regimes do the heavy liftingadvertising rules enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority, and consumer protection law on misleading commercial practices.
- A usable policy names the label wording, the person who approves it, and where the label sits on each asset type.
- Keep a dated log of every disclosure decision. It is the only evidence you will have if a complaint arrives months later.
- This is general guidance for England. Individual cases need a qualified adviser.
Why policies get written too late
The common failure is sequencing. A team buys sponsored placements, produces a webinar with a partner, and only then asks whether the audience must be told who paid.
By that point the assets exist, the budget is spent, and the policy becomes a justification exercise rather than a rulebook. Write it before the first paid asset leaves the building.
The underlying obligations do not change with format. A sponsored email, a paid search result and a partner webinar all raise the same question: would a reasonable person be misled about who is speaking?
The rules that actually bite
The Advertising Standards Authority administers the CAP Code. Rule 2.1 requires marketing communications to be obviously identifiable as such. That applies to promoted posts, paid search copy and partner content alike.
The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 sit underneath as criminal law. Regulation 3 prohibits unfair commercial practices, and Schedule 1, paragraph 11 bans paid-for editorial promotion where the payment is not made clear. The Competition and Markets Authority and local authority Trading Standards enforce consumer protection law. For a CAP Code concern, complain to the ASA through its online complaints form; it can publish rulings, issue ad alerts and name advertisers.
Paid search is where disclosure is most often handled by the platform rather than the marketer. Google labels ads in its own results, and its Google Ads overview explains how paid placements appear alongside organic listings.
That platform labelling does not cover the landing page. If a buyer arrives from an ad onto a page that reads like independent editorial, the labelling has not done the work.
If your team also handles personal data collected through gated assets, the separate obligations are set out in our guide to sales enablement data protection in England.
Drafting the policy itself
Keep it to two pages. A policy nobody reads is a policy nobody follows.
Start with scope. State which asset types it covers: paid search copy, sponsored social posts, partner webinars, co-branded white papers, affiliate placements, and sales decks or other approved content distributed through your sales content library, sales portal or enablement platform.
Then fix the label wording. Decide the exact phrases allowed and ban improvised alternatives. "Paid partnership with" and "Advertisement" are clear. A vague hashtag is not.
Next, place the label. For written assets, above the fold. For video, on screen at the start and in the description. For audio, spoken within the first thirty seconds.
Finally, name the approver. One named role, with a deputy, so nothing waits on a single inbox.
Model policy wording: “Any asset created, funded or distributed through a commercial partnership must identify the relationship clearly before release. Use only the approved labels, place them where the audience will see or hear them, and obtain approval from [role] or [deputy]. Record the asset, channel, label, approver and date in the disclosure register.”
Scoring assets before they ship
Use a short rubric so reviewers apply the same test every time. Score each of the 12 checks 1 if met and 0 if not, then require a minimum total before release.
| Check | What good looks like | Score |
|---|
Disclosure asset scoring rubric
- Identification0 to 3
- Label wording0 to 2
- Placement0 to 3
- Accuracy0 to 2
- Approval0 to 2
- Minimum total9 of 12
| Commercial relationship is disclosed | The paid or partnered relationship is clear to the audience. | 1 if met; otherwise 0 | | Marketing purpose is clear | The asset does not appear to be independent editorial. | 1 if met; otherwise 0 | | Approved label is used | The wording is “Paid partnership with” or “Advertisement”, not an improvised vague hashtag. | 1 if met; otherwise 0 | | Label placement suits the format | It is above the fold in written assets, on screen at the start of video, or spoken within the first thirty seconds of audio. | 1 if met; otherwise 0 | | Label is visible or audible | The audience can readily see or hear it in the asset as published. | 1 if met; otherwise 0 | | Partner is identified where relevant | The paid partner is named in the label. | 1 if met; otherwise 0 | | Landing page is checked | It does not present paid content as independent editorial. | 1 if met; otherwise 0 | | Platform labelling is verified | Any automatic platform label is checked, not assumed to cover other parts of the journey. | 1 if met; otherwise 0 | | Partner and affiliate elements are checked | The commercial relationship is disclosed wherever the asset appears. | 1 if met; otherwise 0 | | Final asset is reviewed | The version approved is the version scheduled for release. | 1 if met; otherwise 0 | | Approver is recorded | The named approver or deputy has signed off the disclosure. | 1 if met; otherwise 0 | | Decision is logged | Asset name, channel, label used, approver and date are recorded. | 1 if met; otherwise 0 |
A total below 9 out of 12 means the asset goes back. That threshold is an illustrative example, not a regulatory figure.
Worked example: if a reviewer marks the first nine checks as met and the remaining three as unmet, the asset scores 9 out of 12 and meets the illustrative pass mark. Record the result alongside the asset’s other register fields.
Where partner tooling is involved, confirm what the platform does automatically. The LinkedIn marketing partner ecosystem lists integrations that handle campaign delivery, but labelling remains your responsibility.
Budget conversations belong in the same policy. If sponsorship costs are being modelled, check current price data from the Office for National Statistics inflation and price indices before quoting figures to finance.
Logging decisions and reviewing
Record every disclosure decision in one dated register: asset name, channel, label used, approver, date. For example: asset name — partner webinar; channel — webinar; label used — “Advertisement”; approver — marketing operations lead; date — [date recorded]. Ten minutes of admin per asset.
The register is what you produce if a complaint lands. It shows a consistent process rather than a one-off fix.
Review the policy twice a year, and after any regulatory update. The wider obligations across channels are covered in our UK rules and compliance guide for 2027.
Common questions
Does a paid search ad need a disclosure label?
The platform normally labels paid results itself, so the ad unit is usually covered. The risk sits on the landing page, which must not read as independent editorial. Keep the commercial relationship visible there.
Who should approve a disclosure decision?
One named role, with a deputy. In most teams that is a marketing operations lead or a compliance owner. What matters is that the name and date are recorded, not the seniority.
How long should we keep the decision log?
Long enough to answer a complaint or an audit. A rolling two years is a workable internal convention, though your adviser may set a different period for your circumstances.
Does this apply across the whole UK?
Consumer protection law and the CAP Code apply across the UK. Enforcement practice and any devolved variations should be checked separately for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
