Partnership Ads are a Meta ad format that allows a brand to include a creator’s organic post in the brand’s ad campaign. This effective strategy combines the authenticity and social proof of creator content with the scalability and precision targeting of paid advertising. Partnership ads can also extend the lifespan of creator posts, allowing content to continue generating engagement and awareness beyond its initial organic reach, making it a cost-effective way to maximize the value of influencer partnerships.

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Partnership Ads are widely used because they offer a simple, streamlined way to incorporate creator content into a brand’s paid Meta strategy. Let’s take a closer look at how to set up Partnership Ads on Instagram and Facebook.

How to Set up Partnership Ads on Meta

The first step to Partnership Ads is for creators to grant brands permission to boost the content on Meta. This can be done at the content level, for each individual post, or at the account level. At the account level, the brand is given access to boost any organic content the creator has published where the brand is tagged with the paid partnership label, mentions, people tags, product tags, or is a co-author on an Instagram collaboration post. 

Content-level access is typically used for partnerships where there is a single post or a small number of agreed-upon posts, while account-level access is ideal for long-term sponsorship deals, affiliates, or partnerships that include multiple, ongoing posts. 

First, both creators and brands must have a public, professional account on Instagram and meet Instagram’s eligibility requirements for Instagram partnership ads and branded content, as well as Facebook’s partnership ads requirements. Both must also enable brand content tools on their accounts.

Here, you can find the steps to set up or change a personal account to a professional account on Instagram.

Partnership ads can be created from a range of content formats, including in-feed posts, Reels, Stories, and Lives.

How to Set up Partnership Ads on Instagram

There are two methods for granting Partnership Ad access:

• Content-level access, which can be provided either with or without an ad code
• Account-level access, which gives broader account permissions for ongoing boosting

Content Level Permissions for Partnership Ads on Instagram

Step 1 (Creator): Set up the post as a Paid Partnership Post with the brand and provide brand access

At the content level, brands can boost content with or without an ad code. If boosting via an ad code, the brand will need to ask the influencer to provide a partner ad code to access the content. 

Set up the post as a Paid Partnership Post with the brand and provide the brand access with a partnership ad code:

1. In the Instagram App, create a post, story or reel and tap Next 
2. Tap More Options
3. Tap Partnership label & ads and add the brand. Note: For story posts, tap Tags at the top of the story
4. Under Branded Content, tap Add paid partnership label and search for the partnering brand
5. Under Partnership ad permissions, turn on the Get partnership ad code toggle 
6. Tap Done
7. Tap Share to upload your post, story or reel
8. Once the content has been shared on Instagram, the partnership ad code will be visible in the Partnership label & ads section and sent to the creator

The paid partnership label allows creators to disclose that the post is a branded paid post, adding a label to the published content that says, “Paid Partnership with [brand].” 

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How to get a partnership ad code once content is created:

1. Once the post is published, tap the three dots at the top of the content to use as a partnership ad
2. Tap Partnership label & ads
3. Tap Add paid partnership label, if not added already, and add the partnering brand
4. Turn on the Get partnership ad code toggle for the code to appear
5.  Tap Copy to save it to the clipboard or tap Share to send the code in a direct message to the partner 

How to allow a partner to boost content without a partnership ad code

1. In the Instagram App, create a post, story, or reel
2. Tap Partnership label & ads. For stories, tap Tag
3. Tap Add paid partnership label and select the brand partner
4. Toggle on Allow brand partner to boost
5. Tap Done

Enabling “Allow brand partners to boost” allows the paid partner brand to boost the content as a Partnership Ad without the brand needing an ad code.

Step 2 (Brand) Create a Partnership Ad

To create a partnership ad with a code in Ads Manager:

1. Go to the brand’s Ads Manager account and click + Create
2. Select the ad objective. 
3. Complete the rest of the details of your ad, including conversion location, budget, schedule, and audience, and click Next.
4. At the ad level, toggle on Partnership ad.
5. Click Enter ad code or post info.
6. Paste the ad code. This will set the first identity of the partnership ad and will use the media associated with the code.
7. ​​Select the Second identity (the brand) you’d like to appear in your ad’s header.
8. Choose which identities to display in your ad: both identities, the first identity only in the header, or the dynamic identity. If you choose dynamic identity, the option predicted to perform best will be automatically selected.
9. Click Done.
10. Finish setting up your ad and click Publish.

To create a partnership ad without a code in Ads Manager:

1. Go to the brand’s Ads Manager account and click + Create.
2. Select the ad objective. 
3. Complete the rest of the details of your ad, including conversion location, budget, schedule, and audience. Then click Next.
4. At the ad level, toggle on Partnership ad.
5. Go to Identity, then click Edit.
6. Choose which partner identities to display in your partnership ad header: both identities, first identity only, or dynamic identity. If you choose dynamic identity, the ad header format will be automatically selected based on what is predicted to perform best. Note: Dynamic identity is turned on by default. However, both identities will be displayed for unsupported placements.
7. Click Save.
8. In the ad setup section, click the dropdown menu and choose Use existing post. 
9. In the ad creative section, choose Select post to select the content you’d like to boost into a partnership ad. Note: If you can’t find the content you’re looking for, you can add a second identity in the identity section or use the “select identity filter” to find your partner’s content.
10. Click Done.

Account-level Permissions for Partnership Ads

You can manage account-level permissions requests for partnership ads via your brand’s Partnership Ads Hub on Meta’s Ads Manager. Account-level access allows brands to run partnership ads without additional permission at the content or post level. However, it is best for long term partnerships as it is a bit more cumbersome to set up and not as streamlined as content-level permissions.

Please note: Granting account-level access to a partner will also allow the partner the ability to whitelist content from the creator account. This means the brand can create ads from the partner’s handle without being limited to pre-existing content, if this has been previously discussed and agreed upon by the creator and brand. 

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When creating Partnership Ads using existing creator content (outside of whitelisting), account-level access allows brands to boost any organic post the creator has published that includes the brand, whether through a paid partnership label, brand mention, people tag, product tag, or an Instagram Collaboration post where the brand is a co-author. 

Step 1 (Brand): Request account-level permissions through Partnership Ads Hub

1. In Ads Manager, click All tools in the bottom left corner.
2. Below Advertise, click Partnership Ads Hub.
3. Click Add partnership in the top right corner.
4. Search for the partner’s username, then select their account.
5. Click Next.
6. Select the account you want to use to partner with the creator, then click Done.
7. Click Next, then click Send request.

Once the creator accepts the request, account-level permissions will be established, and the brand can create partnership ads with this partner without additional permission requests.

Step 2 (Creator): Approves the Partnership Ad request

1. ​​In the Instagram app, go to your profile.
2. Tap Menu at the top right.
3. Tap Creator or Business, depending on your professional account type. Note: Some accounts may see creator tools and controls or business tools and controls instead.
4. Tap Partnership ads.
5. Tap Ad partners.
6. Tap Pending requests, then tap Approve or Decline.

When advertisers request account-level access, they can see if the creator has linked their Instagram and Facebook accounts. If the accounts are linked, creators will receive notifications on both Instagram and Facebook. When the creator accepts the request, it will give advertisers account-level permissions for both Instagram and Facebook.

How to Set up Partnership Ads on Facebook

Like with Instagram, creators can grant brands either content-level permissions or account-level permissions to boost content as a partnership ad on Facebook. 

Partners can generate ad codes only for Facebook-branded content, meaning content that includes a paid partnership label. Only posts and Reels can be boosted as Partnership Ads on Facebook; stories and text posts are not eligible for Partnership Ads. 

Unlike Instagram, a partnership ad code can’t be generated during the publishing process on Facebook. Content must first be published, and then a creator can generate a partnership ad code. Alternatively, creators can grant a brand permission to boost content without an ad code during the content creation process. 

Step 1 (Creator): Set up the post as a Paid Partnership Post with the brand and provide the brand access

On Facebook, there are two methods for granting access to Partnership Ads:

• Content-level access can be provided either with an ad code, once content has been published, or without a code during the content creation process.
• Account-level access, which gives account permissions for ongoing boosting to paid partnership tagged content only

Set up the post as a Paid Partnership Post with the brand

1. In the Facebook app, create a post and swipe up to see the expanded composer. Tap Tag business partner. Note: For reels, tap the Tag business partner in the reel share screen. 
2. Below the expanded composer, tap Tag business partner. Note: For reels, tap the Tag business partner in the reel share screen.
3. Tap Enter brand.
4. Type in the brand name and select the brand.

Generate an ad code after the content is published on Facebook

1. Once content is published, tap the three-dot Options in the top right-hand corner of the content.
2. Tap Share partnership ad code.
3. Toggle on Get partnership ad code.
4. Choose Copy to save the code to your clipboard or send the code in DM to your partner.

Give the brand permission to boost content without an ad code (during the content creation process)

1. In the Facebook app, create a post,then swipe up to see the expanded composer. 
2. Below the expanded composer, tap Tag business partner. Note: For Reels, tap Tag business partner in the Reel share screen.
3. Tap Enter brand.
4. Type in the brand name and select the brand.
5. Toggle on Allow business to boost this post.

Requesting and granting account-level access on Facebook looks very similar to Instagram. In fact, if the creator’s Instagram and Facebook accounts are connected, accepting a brand’s account-level permissions request will grant the brand access to both. 

Step 1 (Brand): Request account-level permissions through Partnership Ads Hub

1. In Ads Manager, click All tools in the bottom left corner.
2. Below Advertise, click Partnership Ads Hub.
3. Click Add partnership in the top right corner.
4. Search for the partner’s username, then select their account.
5. Click Next.
6. Select the account you want to use to partner with the creator, then click Done.
7. Click Next, then click Send request.

Step 2 (Creator): Approves the Partnership Ad request

1. ​​In the Facebook app, go to your profile.
2. Tap Menu at the top right.
3. Tap Creator or Business, depending on your professional account type. Note: Some accounts may see creator tools and controls or business tools and controls instead.
4. Tap Partnership ads.
5. Tap Ad partners.
6. Tap Pending requests, then tap Approve or Decline.

The advertiser must be tagged in the creator’s content on Facebook using the paid partnership label to allow the brand to create a partnership ad.

Step 3 (Brand): Create a Partnership Ad

To create a Partnership Ad with a code in Ads Manager:

1. Go to the brand’s Ads Manager account and click + Create.
2. Select the ad objective. 
3. Complete the remaining details of your ad, including conversion location, budget, schedule, and audience. Then click Next.
4. At the ad level, toggle on Partnership ad.
5. Click Enter ad code or post info.
6. Paste the ad code, post IG or post URL. This will set the first identity of the partnership ad and will use the media associated with the code or post.
7. ​​ Select the Second identity you’d like to appear in your ad’s header.
8.  Choose which identities to display in your ad: both identities, the first identity only in the header, or dynamic identity. If you choose dynamic identity, the option predicted to perform best will be automatically selected.
9. Click Done.
10. Finish setting up your ad and click Publish.

To create a Partnership Ad without a code in Ads Manager:

1. Go to the brand’s Ads Manager account and click + Create.
2. Select the ad objective. 
3. Complete the rest of the details of your ad, including conversion location, budget, schedule and audience. Then click Next.
4. At the ad level, toggle on Partnership ad.
5. Go to Identity, then click Edit.
6. Select the Second identity you would like to appear in your ad’s header. The first identity will automatically be filled with your account. Note: You can switch the order of identities. Once at least one identity has been selected, you’ll be able to select the content you want to boost.
7. Choose which identities to display in your ad: both identities, the first identity only in the header, or dynamic identity. If you choose dynamic identity, the option predicted to perform best will be automatically selected.
8. Click Save.
9. In the ad setup section, click the dropdown menu and choose Use existing post. 
10. In the ad creative section, choose Select post to select the content you’d like to boost into a partnership ad. Note: If you can’t find the content you’re looking for, you can add the second identity in the identity section, or use the Select identity filter to find your partner’s content.
11. Click Done.

Partnership ads are a simple and streamlined way for both brands and creators to take advantage of boosted creator content and results. They provide an opportunity to leverage existing creator partnerships, extending and amplifying the reach of organic posts, and helping brands leverage organic posts with minimal effort.

Creator Content Influencer Marketing meta paid social

WRITTEN BY

Amanda Perry

Amanda is the Influencer Marketing Specialist at Reshift Media, where she strategizes and manages influencer marketing campaigns for various brands. She has worked in the influencer industry for the last 5 years, planning and executing influencer campaigns across many industries and brands.