Setting Up Partnership Ads: Running UGC Ads Through Instagram and Facebook

With a partnership ad, the brand runs the ad with the creator’s Instagram or Facebook account shown in the ad header. To make this possible, the creator either approves a single piece of content or gives the brand permission for her whole account. According to Instagram, she can revoke either at any time. As of 4 October 2026, checked against the help pages of Instagram and Meta.

What partnership ads are

According to Instagram, branded content ads are now called partnership ads. A partnership ad has the brand’s ad budget behind it, an ordinary collaboration post does not. According to Instagram, both accounts appear in the ad header, and the ads use signals from both accounts to improve ranking and performance. That is Meta’s own claim, not a result I have tested.

For UGC, this means the video runs with the creator’s name and profile instead of as material without a sender. On TikTok, the comparable format is called Spark Ads, and there is a separate guide for it: Spark Ads With UGC.

Requirements

On the creator’s side, Instagram requires a professional Instagram account or a Facebook Page or profile in professional mode. On top of that come eligibility criteria: an authentic, established presence with a sufficient number of followers, compliance with the community guidelines including the rules on intellectual property, authenticity and safety, and no content that has been rated as misinformation or false news.

For people living in the EU, the EEA and Switzerland, the same page adds one more point: the ability to advertise and earn money with ads is limited if their account has a subscription for ad-free use of Meta products or a less personalised ads setting. The creator should check this before agreeing.

On the brand’s side, an ad account is needed, and according to Instagram the ad is created in Ads Manager. Permission for partnership ads does not replace an agreement on duration, channels and payment. My packages include organic and paid usage for twelve months, and partnership ads through my own profile are available on request and with a separate approval. Which six points should be settled overall is covered in UGC Usage Rights: The Checklist Before You Book.

Two kinds of permission

According to Instagram, there are two kinds of partnership ad permissions: content level and account level. The first is narrower and meant for specific promotions, the second is broader and, according to Instagram, better suited to ongoing partnerships.

Permission for a single piece of content

With content-level permission, the creator approves a single post, story or reel. According to Instagram, there are two ways to do this.

The first is the partnership ad code. The creator can request it while creating content on Instagram or for content already published on Instagram or Facebook, and she can get a new code at any time. With the code, the brand can use the content as an ad, whether or not it is branded content and whether or not the brand is tagged in it.

The second way works without a code. The creator tags the brand in the paid partnership label and makes sure the “Allow brand partner to boost” toggle is switched on. According to Instagram, the brand can then create an ad from this existing content.

Permission for the whole account

The brand sends the request through the Creator Marketing Hub, where, according to Meta, it can also check the status of its permissions. The brand reaches the hub in Meta Business Suite via “Creator marketing” in the left navigation, or in Ads Manager via “All Tools” > “Advertise”. According to Meta, it may not yet be available for every account.

If the creator’s Instagram and Facebook accounts are linked, she receives the request on both platforms, according to Instagram. She can accept it in the Partnership Ads Hub, in the Instagram app or in the Facebook app. After that, according to Instagram, the brand can:

• create partnership ads from the creator’s handle without any existing content,
• create ads from any of the creator’s existing content that tags the brand, via the label, an @mention, a people or product tag or a Collab,
• include or exclude the creator’s custom audience in the campaign.

What Meta announced for the hub in September 2026, including permissions with an expiry date, is covered in Meta’s Creator Marketing Hub: Expiring Permissions Don’t Replace a Contract.

Duration, archiving and revoking

According to Instagram, the “Allow brand partner to boost” toggle is switched on automatically for the creator’s newly created branded content, as long as her last branded content post is no more than 28 days old and she is actively working with a brand on partnership ads.

According to Instagram, creators and other partners can revoke their permissions at any time. Archiving, on the other hand, is not revoking. According to Instagram, a brand with an ad code keeps its access when the creator archives the content on Instagram. Brands with account-level or branded content permission can also keep boosting archived content, according to Instagram. Archived Facebook content, however, cannot be boosted as a partnership ad.

Partnership ads or your own upload

The trade-off is the same as on TikTok and is covered in detail in the guide on Spark Ads. In short: a partnership ad shows the creator’s account in the header and fits when the link to the person is part of the message. Your own upload runs only through the brand’s account and fits hook tests with several openings, as I describe in UGC Video for Brands.

Five points before approving

One code, two brands at most. According to Instagram, ad codes can be used by a maximum of two partners at the same time. If more brands work with the same video, settle that before sharing the code.

Eligibility depends on the whole account. Content rated as misinformation can, according to Instagram, lead to the permission for partnership ads being denied or withdrawn altogether, not just for this one video.

The post is locked while the ad runs. As long as content is used as a partnership ad, the creator cannot edit it, according to Instagram. She can delete it, but then the ad stops being delivered. Caption corrections therefore belong before the approval.

Comments. According to Instagram, the brand can hide comments on the ad and on the original post, and the creator can unhide them. Who looks after the comments belongs in the agreement.

The 28-day toggle is not an agreement. As I understand it, it only says whether the brand can technically boost, not for how long, in which countries and for what payment. Which points belong in the briefing for this is covered in A UGC Briefing That Works, and the process from booking to handover in Booking a UGC Creator: How the Collaboration Works.

More on this topic

• UGC Usage Rights: The Checklist Before You Book
• Spark Ads With UGC: How the Ad Runs Through the Creator’s Account
• UGC Video for Brands: Authentic Ad Videos Instead of Polished Spots
• Booking a UGC Creator: How the Collaboration Works
• A UGC Briefing That Works: A Template to Copy
• Meta’s Creator Marketing Hub: Expiring Permissions Don’t Replace a Contract