Short answer: The Instagram creator marketplace, which Meta calls Meta Creator Marketplace, connects creators with brands for branded content and partnership ads. Creators join it from the Instagram app. Brands search it with Meta Creator Marketing Hub, a tool in Meta Business Suite or Ads Manager. To run a partnership ad with a creator’s handle, you need that creator’s permission.
What the creator marketplace is
Creators join the marketplace from their professional dashboard on Instagram. Brands use Meta Creator Marketing Hub to discover and evaluate creators, and to find creator content to boost into partnership ads.
Instagram marks these features as only available for business and creator accounts, and adds that they may not be available to you yet.
Who can join as a creator
Instagram lists these requirements for creators:
- Be at least 18 years old.
- Have a professional, public Instagram account.
- Have a minimum of 1,000 followers.
- Agree to the partner monetization policies.
The marketplace is available to eligible creators in all countries where Meta advertising operates. Instagram notes that it isn’t available in Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria or Russia.
To join, a creator taps Professional dashboard, then Branded content and Join creator marketplace, and accepts the terms. If the option doesn’t show, Meta says the feature isn’t available to that creator yet.
Once a creator joins, Meta says brands can see the content they’ve posted and insights like their average reach and number of followers. Brands can also message them directly about partnership opportunities, in a Partnership messages folder.
Creators can also pick preferred brand partners among the brands that currently participate in the program. Those brands see them below Interested creators when searching, and may contact them with a partnership message. Meta reminds creators who join to always disclose their branded content with the paid partnership label.
What your brand needs
To use Creator Marketing Hub, Instagram says a brand must:
- Be based in one of the countries where Creator Marketing Hub is available.
- Have a verified business portfolio.
- Have an Instagram account linked to a Facebook Page that meets the eligibility requirements for partnership ads and branded content on Instagram and Facebook.
The Instagram account and the linked Facebook Page must be business assets of that verified business portfolio. Instagram notes that Creator Marketing Hub isn’t available in Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria or Russia.
If your Instagram account isn’t linked to your Facebook Page yet, our guide to setting up an Instagram business account covers the connection.
An admin of the business portfolio must give each person access to the creator marketplace, and Instagram says this is done on desktop. Sending prioritized partnership messages to creators takes Messages and Calls or Creator management permissions. Creating campaigns in Creator Marketing Hub takes Creator management permissions.
How to find creators in Creator Marketing Hub
The first time, you sign up: in Meta Business Suite, click Creator marketing on the left navigation bar, then Get started, and agree to the terms. Ads Manager also opens it, below All Tools and Advertise.
The Discover creators tab shows creator recommendations personalized to your brand. You can also use AI-powered keyword search and filters like interests, age and follower count. The filters apply to both creators and target audiences.
Each creator card opens a full profile with the creator’s past and active partnership ads, branded content, past partners and metrics. Instagram adds that you can view more of a creator’s recent posts and more detailed insights if the creator has joined the creator marketplace. Our guide to Instagram insights explains what each number means.
Each card has a Contact button: from there you can copy the creator’s email, if available, or send them a message. Conversations stay in the Meta Business Suite Inbox, under Partnership messages.
The home screen also shows partner content: posts, stories and reels your partners shared in the last 90 days, with flags on content that might need attention before it runs as a partnership ad.
What partnership ads are
Meta renamed branded content ads: they are now called partnership ads. They let advertisers run ads with partners, such as creators, brands and other businesses. The ad’s header can feature the partner’s account, the advertiser’s or both. Meta says the ads use signals from both accounts for improved ranking and incremental performance.
Meta says partnership ads are not the same as organic branded content. If you want a partner to tag your account with the paid partnership label in an organic post, you grant that permission separately from partnership ads permissions.
Meta’s page on partnership ads says that starting in September 2026, you can create them in the WhatsApp Status placement.
To see the Facebook and Instagram ads any page runs, use our Meta Ad Library guide.
Permissions: content-level or account-level
To run partnership ads, advertisers need permission from the partner whose handle the ad will include. Creators and other partners can revoke these permissions at any time. The exception is two Instagram or Facebook accounts owned by the same business: an employee with ads access to both can run partnership ads without these permissions.
Content-level permissions are more restrictive and are used for specific content promotions. A creator can let you promote an individual post, story or reel as a partnership ad. With the partnership ad code the creator shares, you can turn that post, story or reel into an ad even if it isn’t branded content or doesn’t tag you.
Account-level permissions offer broader access and are more suitable for ongoing partnerships. With them, you can create partnership ads from a partner’s handle without pre-existing content. You can also create ads from any of the partner’s existing content that tags you. The tag can be the paid partnership label, an @mention, a people tag, a product tag or a Collab.
The partner accepts account-level requests in Partnership Ads Hub, the Instagram app or the Facebook app. If the partner’s Instagram and Facebook accounts are linked, accepting gives you account-level permissions for both. Our guide to Instagram collab posts explains how a Collab invite works.
If an agency runs your partnership ads, Meta says you need to grant it permissions across your Instagram account, Facebook Page and ad account.
In our view, start with one post shared by ad code, and ask for account-level permissions once the partnership is working.
How to create a partnership ad
Open Ads Manager, click + Create and pick your objective. Complete the rest of the details, then click Next. At the ad level, turn on the partnership ad toggle.
With an ad code, click Enter ad code or post info and paste the ad code, post ID or post URL. That sets the first identity and uses the media of that post. Then select the second identity for the ad’s header.
Without a code, go to Identities, click Edit, choose which identities the header shows and click Save. Then, in the ad setup section, choose Use existing post to boost a post, or Create ad to upload new creative.
With or without a code, the header options are the same: both identities, the first identity only or dynamic identity, which automatically picks the option predicted to perform best. Dynamic identity is on by default, and unsupported placements show both identities. The WhatsApp Status placement supports neither dynamic identity nor a single identity, so both identities always show there.
Meta reviews the ad and notifies you when it’s approved. Until the partnership ad is live, you can’t manage or delete likes and comments on the boosted post.
Meta notes that it’s rolling out a new recommended setup for the Traffic, Awareness and Engagement objectives, so your steps may differ slightly. Special ad category and pharmaceutical campaigns may not have access to all Advantage+ features, or may see a different experience. If Ads Manager is new to you, start with our Ads Manager guide.
Your first creator partnership, step by step
- Confirm your brand is eligible: based in a country where Creator Marketing Hub is available, with a verified business portfolio. Link your Instagram account to a Facebook Page that meets the requirements for partnership ads and branded content. Both must be business assets of that portfolio.
- In Meta Business Suite, click Creator marketing, then Get started, and agree to the terms.
- Find creators in Discover creators and read the past partners and metrics on each profile.
- Message the creator, agree on the work, and ask for an ad code or account-level permissions.
- In Ads Manager, turn on the partnership ad toggle, choose the identities and publish for Meta’s review.
The steps follow the Instagram and Meta help pages. Agreeing on the work, in step 4, is our advice.
Before your first partnership ad goes live
- Your business portfolio is verified, and your Instagram account and Facebook Page are its business assets.
- The creator has given you permission, by ad code or at account level.
- You know the creator can revoke that permission at any time.
- You chose the identities for the header, knowing dynamic identity is on by default.
- If an agency runs the ad, it has permissions on your Instagram account, Facebook Page and ad account.
- Someone is ready to manage likes and comments once the ad is live.
RememberCreators join the creator marketplace from Instagram, and brands search it in Creator Marketing Hub. A partnership ad with a creator needs that creator’s permission, and the creator can revoke it at any time.
With our Meta Ads service, we plan, make and run your ads on Facebook and Instagram, in English and Spanish. You approve the first launch and every new offer, price or claim.
Questions about the Instagram creator marketplace
What is the Instagram creator marketplace?
Meta calls it Meta Creator Marketplace. It helps creators connect with brands to partner on branded content and partnership ads. Creators join from the Instagram app, and brands search it with Meta Creator Marketing Hub.
How many followers do you need to join the Instagram creator marketplace?
Instagram lists a minimum of 1,000 followers. Creators must also be at least 18 years old, have a professional, public Instagram account and agree to the partner monetization policies.
What does a brand need to use Creator Marketing Hub?
Instagram lists a verified business portfolio and a base in a country where the tool is available. The brand also needs an Instagram account linked to a Facebook Page that meets the eligibility requirements for partnership ads and branded content. The account and the Page must be business assets of that verified portfolio.
Are partnership ads the same as branded content?
No. Meta renamed branded content ads to partnership ads, but it says partnership ads are not the same as organic branded content. Letting a partner tag your account with the paid partnership label in an organic post takes a permission of its own.
Can a creator revoke a brand’s permission to run partnership ads?
Yes. Meta says creators and other partners can revoke these permissions at any time. With content-level permissions, a creator chooses which posts an advertiser may promote. Account-level permissions offer broader access, and Meta calls them more suitable for ongoing partnerships.
Sources
Pages read on November 7, 2026. On the Instagram Help Center, for creators: Eligibility requirements for creators on Meta Creator Marketplace. For brands: About Meta Creator Marketing Hub, Eligibility requirements for businesses on Meta Creator Marketing Hub and Find creators to partner with on Meta Creator Marketing Hub. Meta Business Help Center: Be discovered for branded content partnerships with Instagram’s creator marketplace, About Partnership Ads on Instagram and Facebook, About partnership ad permissions and How to create a partnership ad. From our own site: the page of our Meta Ads service and the guides on Instagram business accounts, Instagram insights, collab posts, Meta Ads Manager and the Meta Ad Library.