Partnership Ads on Instagram let brands promote UGC to a wider audience. Learn how Instagram Partnership Ads work, why they’re effective and how to set them up.
Thinking about running Partnership ads on Instagram? You're in good company!
And the boom of UGC ads via Instagram Reels, Stories and In-Feed posts is hard to ignore.
Coupling authentic posts from creators with paid promotions, a paid social media strategy built around Partnership ads makes sense for brands that partner with high volumes of creators.
This post breaks down what Partnership Ads on Instagram are, how they work and why they’re so effective. Plus, we’ll share examples of Partnership Ads we've seen recently.
Partnership Ads are sponsored posts that brands promote in collaboration with Instagram creators. These ads display a “Paid Partnership” label, clearly signaling a sponsored post.
Formerly known as Branded Content Ads, these ads can run through a creator or brand's account with the names of both visible. Chances are you've seen your fair share of Partnership ads in the wild.
What sets Partnership Ads apart from other types of ads on Instagram? For starters, their authenticity and the fact that they come directly from creator posts. These types of ads can also be run across multiple types of content, including Reels, In-Feed Posts and Instagram Stories.
Like other types of influencer ads such as TikTok Spark Ads, Partnership Ads are touted by Meta for their higher engagement and conversion rates versus brand-generated creatives. The ability to piggyback on a creator's audience to target and retarget customers is a big bonus of the format, too.
For example, note the overwhelmingly positive response among this creator's followers to her sponsored post for New Balance. This highlights how influencer ads are best when they're targeting specific, niche audiences.
Partnership Ads are also notable as they require creators to grant unique ad codes to brands, which allows the brand to promote their content while keeping the creator’s @handle front-and-center.
Instagram has made it easier than ever to set up creator ads via Partnership Ad Codes.
These codes allow creators to grant brands permission to promote their posts directly. As a result, brands can boost UGC without exchanging raw files or dealing with endless back-and-forth.
Thankfully, getting permission as a brand to run influencer ads on Instagram doesn't take forever. Especially compared to the old Instagram whitelisting process that required a lot of bouncing around.
Here are the basic steps of how creators generate Instagram Ad codes to exchange with brands:
Here's a quick and simple summary of what needs to happen to set up an Instagram Partnership Ad.
(The good news? If you know how to get an Instagram ad code, you're pretty much halfway there!)
First thing's first: you'll need to find Instagram influencers to promote your products and negotiate content usage terms. Assuming you already have customers and creators posting about your brand, this first step should be pretty straightforward.
As highlighted above, you'll need to request the creator to provide their Partnership Ad Code for the post you want to promote. While Instagram doesn't currently offer this feature natively, some influencer platforms (like Statusphere!) can streamline the process.
From here, you'll need to set up your ads. This process isn't radically different if you've run Instagram ads via Reels or Stories in the past. Log into Instagram’s Ads Manager, select “Use Existing Post” and paste your Partnership ad code. Then enter your targeting, budget and campaign details like normal.
The Instagram Paid Partnership label is a tag that appears on a creator's post to disclose sponsored content. Depending on whether you're viewing sponsored content in your feed, the label appears at the upper righthand or lefthand corner of posts, Reels and Stories.
When creators tag a brand in their post using Instagram’s branded content tools, the Paid Partnership label appears. This also gives brands access to post insights and the ability to promote it as an ad.
Note that the Paid Partnership label on Instagram isn't just a courtesy or for transparency. The label is required by Instagram to disclose advertisements as part of the FTC's rules and guidelines.
Beyond being required, the label helps creators stay honest with their audience and maintain a sense of trust. For brands, that trust translates into better-performing ads and stronger connections with potential customers.
If you're already working with creators on Instagram, running Partnership Ads makes sense for the sake of maximizing campaign ROI and expanding your reach.
Managing ad codes manually can be tedious, though. Especially when you're juggling 100s of collabs.
From tracking down ad codes to coordinating with creators, scaling your Partnership Ads beyond a few posts can quickly eat up your time and resources.
That’s where Statusphere's platform can save the day. Our software automates creator collabs to help brands unlock the full potential of Partnership Ads.
That's because posts from Statsuphere have built-in content rights and brands can purchase ad codes directly from creators with no one-on-one communication required. Plus, you can upload your own creator partners to the platform for even more flexibility.
Ready to scale your Instagram Partnership Ads faster than ever? Get in touch with our team to see how our software makes it all happen.
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