Does a Danish Municipality or Government Body Have to Put an Influencer Campaign Out to Tender?

Short answer: yes, if the value crosses the threshold — and there's no special exemption for influencer marketing

A Danish municipality, region, agency or other public body has to put an influencer campaign out to tender if the campaign's expected value exceeds the applicable services threshold: DKK 1,044,400 for state authorities and DKK 1,611,360 for regions, municipalities and public-law bodies (2026-2027 figures, set by the European Commission and published by Denmark's Competition and Consumer Authority, Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen). Under Danish procurement law (Udbudsloven), an influencer campaign is treated as an ordinary advertising/communication service — there's no lighter "light regime" for it, and no case has yet tested the rule on an influencer campaign specifically.

This is practical guidance from Make Influence, not legal advice. If you're unsure how a specific campaign should be classified or valued, get it confirmed by your own procurement lawyer or purchasing department before the campaign is finalised.

Who is covered, and why an influencer campaign counts as an ordinary service

Udbudsloven applies to "contracting authorities" (ordregivende myndigheder) — the state, regional and local authorities, and public-law bodies (for example a municipally owned utility or a further-education institution). When one of these bodies pays an influencer, an agency or a platform to run a campaign, that's a purchase of a service, on the same footing as any other purchase of advertising or communication services.

That also means influencer marketing does not fall under the so-called light regime (Section III of Udbudsloven) for social and other specific services, which carries a much higher threshold (DKK 5,595,000 for 2026-2027). The Competition and Consumer Authority's own list of CPV codes covered by the light regime contains none of the codes for advertising, marketing or communication services (the CPV 793xx series) — so the ordinary threshold applies, not the lighter one.

Services thresholds, 2026-2027

Below the threshold: what still applies?

Between DKK 500,000 and the threshold: market terms, and possibly a publication duty

If the campaign's value sits below the relevant threshold, there's no duty to run a full tender. But two things still apply. First, the purchase still has to reflect market terms — the authority has to be able to show that the price and terms match what free competition would produce. Second, the authority has to assess whether the contract has "clear cross-border interest" — whether a company from another EU country could realistically be interested in bidding. The Competition and Consumer Authority's own guidance (June 2024) points to factors such as the contract's subject matter, size and duration, its geographic proximity to neighbouring countries, and the structure of the relevant market. If clear cross-border interest is found, the contract has to be published under Udbudsloven's Section IV — typically on udbud.dk — even though a full tender isn't required.

Below DKK 500,000: ordinary administrative-law principles

Below DKK 500,000, there's generally neither a tender nor a publication duty, unless clear cross-border interest exists anyway. But a municipality or other public authority is never entirely free of rules regardless of the amount: the general administrative-law principles of proper conduct and sound financial management of public funds apply to every purchase, and good practice is still to obtain several quotes and do a light market check even where the law doesn't require it.

The trap: artificially splitting the same campaign

Udbudsloven does not let an authority split one real requirement into several smaller purchases purely to stay under the threshold. In practice: if a municipality runs four influencer campaigns of the same type over a year — say, one tourism push per quarter through the same agency or platform — the value generally has to be added together when assessing whether the threshold is reached, not assessed campaign by campaign. That holds even if each individual campaign comfortably sits below the threshold on its own.

Decision framework: how to assess your specific campaign

IF the total expected value of the campaign (including every campaign of the same type within the contract period) exceeds DKK 1,044,400 (state) or DKK 1,611,360 (region/municipality) → the campaign has to go to full tender under Udbudsloven's Section II.

IF the value sits between DKK 500,000 and the relevant threshold → make sure the price reflects market terms, and assess concretely whether there's clear cross-border interest. If there is, the contract has to be published.

IF the value is below DKK 500,000 and there's no clear cross-border interest → no tender or publication duty, but still run a light market check and document that the money was spent responsibly.

IF the campaign is one in an ongoing series of similar campaigns → add up the value of the whole series before concluding you're under the threshold.

Worked example: when does a typical campaign hit the threshold? (illustrative)

The figures in this section are a constructed, hypothetical example used to illustrate scale — they are not a Make Influence campaign or an actual quote.

What's still missing: no case has tested this on an influencer campaign

This article is built on Udbudsloven's general rules and the Competition and Consumer Authority's own guidance — not on a ruling from the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement (Klagenævnet for Udbud) that has specifically tested these rules against an influencer campaign. There's no reason to think the rules would apply any differently to an influencer campaign than to any other advertising or communication service, but be aware that a future ruling could clarify edge cases this article can't yet answer — for example, the exact classification of a campaign that combines a flat fee with a performance-based commission.

Make Influence's perspective

In our experience, the biggest practical problem here isn't the law itself — it's timing: the tender question often only gets raised once the campaign is already planned and the budget is locked, instead of being the very first step. Our recommendation to a public body considering influencer marketing is to get the total expected value of the whole campaign period — not just the first activation — assessed by your own procurement lawyer or purchasing department before you contact an agency or a platform. It's far cheaper to discover a tender obligation before the contract negotiation than after it.

FAQ

Do the rules also apply to a further-education institution, a utility company or another public-law body — not just "the municipality" itself?

Yes. Udbudsloven defines "contracting authority" broadly to cover the state, regional and local authorities, and public-law bodies — which typically includes education institutions, utility companies and similar bodies, not only the municipal administration itself.

Does it matter if the campaign runs through an existing framework agreement with an agency or platform?

It changes the process, not the underlying duty: if the framework agreement was itself awarded lawfully under the procurement rules, individual campaigns can typically be ordered directly under it without a new tender. If there's no valid framework agreement, the ordinary threshold rules described above apply to the individual campaign.

What if the campaign is paid as a performance-based commission instead of a flat fee?

The expected total value still has to be calculated and compared to the threshold, regardless of the payment model. For a performance-based model — see performance-based influencer marketing, explained — the expected or maximum commission amount over the contract period is typically used as the basis for valuation, but this research did not find a ruling confirming the exact calculation method for a performance-based influencer deal specifically.

Does a correctly tendered campaign still have to meet the ordinary ad-disclosure rules?

Yes — the procurement rules and the ad-disclosure rules are two entirely separate duties. A correctly tendered purchase doesn't exempt the campaign from ad disclosure, and the reverse is also true.

Are there other Danish or EU rules a public body needs to remember beyond the tender duty itself?

Yes, potentially the same rules a private company has to follow — for example the regulated-industries rules if the campaign falls within alcohol, finance or pharma, and the ordinary requirements for an influencer contract.

How does the public-sector market differ from Denmark's private influencer marketing market generally?

See what does the Danish influencer marketing market look like? for the wider picture of who uses influencer marketing in Denmark and how the market is structured — this article covers the tender question for a public-sector buyer specifically.

Does the budget for paid distribution (boosting/whitelisting) count towards the contract value?

Yes. The expected contract value has to be calculated as the total price the authority expects to pay for the whole service — creator fees, agency/platform fees and any paid-distribution budget that's part of the same arrangement all have to be added together. See how to set an influencer marketing budget for how those line items are typically put together.