Instagram partnership ads: running ads with a creator's handle

This guide is built from Meta's Business Help Center, mainly About partnership ads, About partnership ad permissions and How to create a partnership ad. It covers what a partnership ad is, who can run one, the two kinds of permission, partnership ad codes, how the ad header works, and which objectives, placements and formats Meta supports. Disclosure law (FTC and ASA rules) is in our separate guide to influencer marketing disclosure.

What a partnership ad is

Meta's help pages open with a note: Branded content ads are now called partnership ads. Meta describes them as ads that allow advertisers to run ads with partners: creators, brands and other businesses. The partner's account, the advertiser's account, or both appear in the ad's header, and Meta says the ads use signals from both accounts for ranking.

In practice this means a brand can run an ad that looks like it comes from a creator's Instagram or Facebook account, using either the creator's existing post or new creative the brand uploads. The brand pays for the ad and controls budget, audience and objective in Ads Manager. The creator decides whether to allow it at all.

Meta's create page also says that from September 2026 partnership ads can run in the WhatsApp Status placement.

Partnership ads vs branded content

These are two different things, with two different permissions:

• Branded content is organic. Meta's page About branded content defines it as content for which the creator has been compensated by a brand or business partner, including gifted products. The post carries a Paid partnership with label naming the brand.
• A partnership ad is paid media. Meta's page on labels on paid partnership posts says that if the post is boosted or is an unpublished ad, an Ad label appears, just like it would with any other ad.

Meta's create page says that letting a partner tag you in the paid partnership label on organic posts is granted separately from partnership ads permissions. Money also stays off Meta: creators whose content is used for partnership ads are paid off the platform, and Meta does not support payments through Instagram or Facebook. Whether a post or ad needs extra disclosure under advertising law is a separate question; see our disclosure guide.

Who can run them

Meta's eligibility requirements for partnership ads and branded content say partnership ads are available for public content on Facebook Pages or profiles in professional mode, and on Instagram professional accounts. Threads supports only organic branded content, not partnership ads. The advertiser needs a Facebook Page or an Instagram professional account; our guide to Instagram for business covers switching to one.

The partner also has to stay eligible. Meta lists following its Community Standards, not sharing content flagged as misinformation, and having an authentic, established presence, which also includes maintaining a sufficient follower base. Meta does not give a follower number. Elected officials, candidates, parties and government agencies are not eligible to run branded content, with exceptions for authorised political advertisers. In the EU, EEA and Switzerland, an account with a subscription to use Meta without ads has limited ability to advertise and monetise.

Content-level and account-level permissions

An advertiser needs permission from the partner whose handle the ad will use, and Meta says creators can revoke these permissions at any time. The one exception: if both accounts belong to the same business and an employee has ads access to both, no partnership ad permission is needed. There are two kinds:

	Content-level	Account-level
Covers	One post, story or reel the partner picks	The partner's handle in general
How it's given	A partnership ad code, or the Allow brand partner to boost toggle on a branded content post that tags the advertiser	The advertiser sends a request; the partner accepts in Instagram, Facebook or the hub
Ads from new creative	No	Yes, without pre-existing content
Partner's custom audience	No	Can be included or excluded
Meta suggests it for	Short-term or one-time promotions	Ongoing partnerships

With account-level permission, the advertiser can boost any of the partner's existing content that tags them. On Instagram that tag can be the paid partnership label, an @mention, a people tag, a product tag or a Collab; on Facebook, Meta's hub page says it must be the paid partnership label. Advertisers send requests from Meta Business Suite: Creator Marketing in the left menu, then Manage permissions, Add partnership, find the partner and Send request. Meta's pages call this tool both Creator Marketing Hub and Partnership Ads Hub. If the partner's Instagram and Facebook accounts are linked, one accepted request covers both.

Meta's page About partnership ad permissions for advertisers adds a point brands sometimes miss: permissions don't set compensation or transfer ownership of content. Scope, duration, exclusivity and pay belong in a separate agreement, and Meta advises checking both before an ad runs.

Partnership ad codes

A partnership ad code is how a creator grants content-level permission for any post, whether or not it is branded content or tags the brand. Meta's Instagram Help page Create a partnership ad code describes the steps: on a post, story or reel, open Partnership label & ads, turn on Get partnership ad code, then copy or share the code. On Facebook it is Share partnership ad code in the post's options. Points from Meta's pages:

• Ad codes can be used by up to 2 partners at a time.
• Turning the toggle off stops the code being used for new ads, but any active ads using the code will continue running.
• Archived Instagram content can still be boosted; archived Facebook content cannot.
• The partnership ad isn't shown on the creator's profile, but it is listed in the Meta Ad Library.
• Facebook content can't be turned into branded content after it is posted.

Creating the ad in Ads Manager

From Meta's create page: start a campaign in Ads Manager, pick an objective, set the conversion location, budget, schedule and audience, then at the ad level turn on the Partnership ad toggle.

• With a code: click Enter ad code or post info and paste the ad code, post ID or post URL. That sets the first identity and the media. Then choose the second identity.
• Without a code (account-level permission): set the identities, then either Use existing post to boost the partner's content or Create ad to upload new creative.

The ad then goes through Meta's normal review. Meta notes you can't manage likes and comments on the boosted post until the ad is live. If an agency runs the ads, the brand has to give it access to the Instagram account, Facebook Page and ad account; our guide to the Meta business portfolio covers partner access.

Whose name shows in the header

Meta's page on displaying accounts in the partnership ad header gives three choices:

• Both advertiser and partner: for showing the partnership or cross-promoting both accounts.
• Partner only: the brand's account is not in the header; Meta suggests it when the partner is genuinely promoting their own use of a product.
• Dynamic identity: Meta picks either option per delivery. It is on by default and is Meta's recommendation.

The header shows at most two accounts, so on a Collab post with three accounts one is left out. The first identity has to be the Instagram account that authored the post. Whatever you choose, Meta says ranking uses signals from both accounts. Meta's placements page says dynamic and single identity are only available in Facebook Feed and Reels; Facebook Stories, Facebook Marketplace and WhatsApp Status always show both accounts.

Objectives, placements and formats

Meta's page on supported objectives and placements lists all six objectives: Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App promotion and Sales, including Advantage+ sales campaigns and Advantage+ catalog ads with the collection format. Some conversion locations are not supported: Calls under every objective that offers it, and under Leads also Messenger, Instant forms with Messenger, and Instagram. Leads through a website, instant forms or an app are supported.

Placements are Instagram Feed, Web Feed, Explore Feed, Explore Grid, Stories and Reels; Facebook Feed, Stories, Reels and Marketplace; and WhatsApp Status. Instagram Stories is not supported with Advantage+ catalog ads.

The post itself has to be in an eligible format:

• Feed: single image, video and carousel, with up to 10 cards. Posts with reminders aren't supported.
• Stories: videos of 60 seconds or less (unless the ad is built in Ads Manager without an existing story), at most 5 supported stickers and tappable text, and no link stickers, copyrighted music or music stickers.
• Reels: videos of 15 minutes or less. Reels published before October 15, 2021 can't be boosted. Copyrighted music isn't supported unless the advertiser holds the rights, and neither is music from the Instagram music library; royalty-free music from Sound collection and original audio are fine.

Music causes most surprises here: a creator's reel with a popular track from the music library can't become a partnership ad as it is.

Results, audiences and stopping an ad

Meta's page on measuring partnership ad performance says the business sees the ad's results in Ads Manager, while the creator sees the same insights they get for organic posts. The business view doesn't include details only available to the creator, so agree in advance what the creator will share.

With account-level permission, Meta's creator audience sharing lets the advertiser build a custom audience of people who engaged with the creator's Instagram account, and a lookalike from it. It only works when the ad runs from the creator's handle on Instagram.

Creators can stop an advertiser by removing account-level permission, turning off the ad code, or stopping active ads in the Instagram app. Meta advises advertisers to check that a permission is still active before publishing and to review affected ads when a partner changes or revokes it.

Our view

This is our own working practice, not Meta guidance.

• Put usage rights in writing before asking for a code: which posts, how long the ads may run, and whether new creative from the brand is allowed under the creator's name.
• Use content-level codes for a single campaign and account-level permission only for creators you work with over time.
• Check the music in a creator's reel before you plan around it.
• Ask the creator to add the paid partnership label on the organic post as well; the ad gets its own Ad label, but the post may be seen without it.
• If you also run sponsored posts on LinkedIn, the setup is similar; see LinkedIn thought leader ads.

Frequently asked questions

Are branded content ads and partnership ads the same?

Yes. Meta renamed branded content ads to partnership ads. Organic branded content, with the Paid partnership with label, is still a separate thing.

Does the creator need a business account?

Partnership ads are available for public content from Instagram professional accounts and from Facebook Pages or profiles in professional mode, so a creator or business account on Instagram works.

How many brands can use one partnership ad code?

Meta says ad codes can be used by up to 2 partners at a time.

What happens to running ads if the creator turns the code off?

Turning the code off stops it being used for new ads. Meta says active ads using the code continue running; creators can stop those separately in the Instagram app.

Can partnership ads run on Threads?

No. Meta says Threads supports only organic branded content with the Paid partnership with label, not partnership ads or boosting.

Does Meta handle payment to the creator?

No. Meta says creators whose content is used for partnership ads are paid off the platform, and that permissions don't set compensation or transfer ownership of content.

For more on Meta and creator advertising, see our guides to Meta ads basics, Instagram for business, TikTok Spark Ads and influencer marketing disclosure.