Your Guide to Influencer Partnership Ads on Instagram and Facebook

With 78% of U.S. Internet users saying that personally relevant content from brands increases their purchase intent, it has never been more important to highly tailor your ad strategies.

Brands are constantly walking a tightrope in digital advertising—trying to promote their products without making it obvious that they’re ads. With audiences quickly skipping over anything that feels inauthentic, finding a way to stand out is crucial.

This is where Partnership Ads come into play.

What are Partnership Ads?

The days of relying on organic reach to grow an audience on social media are fading fast. Changing algorithms on platforms like Instagram and Facebook now makes it almost impossible for brands to achieve significant visibility without turning to paid advertising. As a result, brands are investing more in strategies like Partnership Ads, which allow them to maintain an authentic feel while boosting their reach.

Previously known as influencer whitelisting, Partnership Ads is a hybrid marketing approach that merges the influencer’s authentic connection with their audience and the brand’s advertising efforts. Unlike typical influencer posts, where brands pay for a shoutout, Partnership Ads involve running paid advertisements through the influencer’s social media account.

This strategy allows brands to control the content and targeting while taking advantage of the trust and engagement that the influencer has already built with their followers. The result is a more personalized and effective advertising experience.

As advertising through influencer accounts evolves, new terms like dark posting have gained traction, reflecting how these strategies offer even more nuanced ways to leverage influencer marketing.

What is Darkposting?

Darkposting refers to creating an ad that doesn’t show up on the influencer’s timeline but is displayed to specific, targeted audiences. The beauty of dark posting lies in its ability to experiment with different ad creatives and targeting groups without overwhelming the influencer’s followers with promotional content.

One of the key advantages of dark posting is that creators don’t have to worry about how their regular audience will perceive the post, as it won’t be visible to their followers.

Note: Although dark posting provides brands with enhanced control and the ability to test various content, it doesn't achieve the same level of organic reach as standard influencer posts.

Since shadow posting keeps content off a creator's public feed, it can remove the incentive to create high-quality, audience-focused posts. Without the usual visibility to followers, creators may not feel the same pressure to create something that feels truly organic and engaging. This approach risks resulting in content that feels less natural and authentic, which can ultimately impact its performance and appeal.

Implement this approach thoughtfully, using it alongside regular influencer content to optimize overall effectiveness.

The Key Benefits of Influencer Partnership Ads

Benefits for Brands

• Enhanced brand visibility: Since consumers tend to interact more with content from their favorite creators, brands can experience significantly higher click-through rates with Partnership Ads posts compared to traditional ad formats.
• Increased trust and authenticity: Sponsored posts appearing on an influencer’s profile are perceived as more genuine. This authenticity can enhance brand reputation and lead to stronger customer loyalty.
• Precision targeting opportunities: Brands can strategically control who sees the influencer’s posts, enabling them to target specific demographics or interests effectively. Even those who do not follow the influencer can be reached, ensuring marketing efforts are more efficient and impactful.
• Content customization: Brands have the flexibility to make minor adjustments to the influencer’s original content, allowing for alignment with their messaging while preserving the creator’s unique style.

Benefits for Creators

• Increased revenue streams: Creators benefit financially from both the content they produce and the access they provide to their social media accounts. By partnering with brands, influencers can generate additional income streams, making their platforms more lucrative.
• Broadened audience reach: Through influencer Partnership Ads, creators gain access to new audiences they might not reach organically. Brand promotions of their content can attract followers from various demographics, allowing influencers to grow their influence and open doors for future collaborations.
• Optimized dark posting: Dark posting can sometimes be useful for keeping a creator’s main feed uncluttered by hiding sponsored content from their public profile. This approach helps maintain the authenticity of the creator’s profile, as their audience only sees a curated selection of posts that align with their brand. When used sparingly, dark posting can benefit campaigns that require highly targeted promotions without impacting the creator’s public feed but should be balanced with more transparent content.

Partnership Ads vs. Organic Influencer Posts: Which Drives Better Reach and Engagement?

Marketers often struggle to grasp the distinction between Partnership Ads and organic influencer content.

• Organic Influencer posts rely entirely on organic reach, meaning the impact is limited to the influencer's existing followers.
• In contrast, Partnership Ads give brands control over targeting and allow them to run paid ads through the influencer's account, amplifying reach and improving ROI.

What You Need to Know Before Starting Partnership Ads

Setting up your influencer Partnership Ad campaigns is easier than you think. Before you can effectively set them up on Facebook and Instagram, keep the following things in mind:

• Professional Account Requirement: Both the creator and brand must have a professional Instagram account and meet the eligibility standards for Instagram and Facebook partnership ads and branded content.
• Partnership Permissions: Ensure that partnership ad permissions are set up between the creator and the brand through Meta Business Suite.
• Ad Code Use: An ad code provided by a creator can only be used by a single advertiser.
• Archived Content Eligibility: Archived or previously used content is still eligible for partnership ads, as long as it adheres to platform guidelines.
• Boosting Content: Advertisers can boost content, whether it's as a partnership or non-partnership ad, even if it has been boosted before.
• Tagging and Policies: When converting branded content (including archived and hidden posts) into a partnership ad, ensure the partner is tagged in the paid partnership label according to Instagram’s branded content policies.

How Partnership Ads Work

When setting up partnership ads, the process varies slightly depending on whether you’re a creator or an advertiser.

Creating Partnership Ad as a Creator

As a creator, you’re responsible for sharing assets and permissions with the brand you want to partner with. To enable a partner to boost your content after creation:

• Open the Instagram app and select the post, story, or reel you wish to turn into a partnership ad from your profile.
• Tap the three dots in the top right corner of your selected content.
• Choose the Partnership label & ads from the menu.
• Toggle on the Get partnership ad code option.
  • Note: You can deactivate this code at any time by turning the toggle off. However, any ads currently running with the code will remain active.
• The partnership ad code will be generated. Tap Copy to save it to your clipboard or tap Share to send the code directly to your partner via a message.

To allow a partner to boost your content during creation:

• In the Instagram app, create your post, story, or reel.
• Select Partnership labels & ads.
  • Note: For stories, tap the relevant icon at the top of the screen.
• Toggle on the Get partnership ad code option.
  • Note: You can deactivate this code at any time; active ads will continue running.
• Tap Share to upload your content.
• After sharing, your partnership code is ready. Tap the copy icon next to the code to save it or tap Share to send it directly to your partner.
  • Note: You can generate a new code whenever needed. Archiving your content does not revoke ad code access for the advertiser.

Creating Partnership Ad as an Advertiser

As advertisers, brands take the lead on running and optimizing the ads once the permissions have been granted and assets shared.

When creating your partnership ad, it's possible to set up an ad both with or without a partnership ad code. However, using a code simplifies the process significantly, as it allows for smoother integration, direct access to the creator’s engaged audience, and quicker setup.

At Ramdam, we take care of this by providing clients with the necessary ad codes for all their influencer ads, streamlining the entire process from content creation to ad management.

How to Create a Partnership Ad with an Ad Code

1. Go to Meta Ads Manager and click on + Create.
2. Choose one of the following ad objectives: Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App Promotion, or Sales.
3. In the conversion section, select a conversion location based on your ad objective:
   • Traffic: Website or Messaging apps
   • Engagement: Website, Messaging apps, Ads, or Facebook Page
   • Leads: Website or Instant forms
   • App Promotion: App
   • Sales: Website, Messaging apps, or Website and shop
4. Fill out the Budget & Schedule, Audience, and Placements sections, then click Next.
5. In the Audience section, you can choose to target the creator’s engaged audience.
6. At the Ad level, toggle on Partnership ad.
7. Click on Enter partnership ad code and paste the code provided by the creator.
   • Note: The first identity will automatically be the creator’s account, and the second identity will be your business account. If you manage multiple accounts, make sure to select the appropriate one for the second identity.
8. Once done, finalize the ad setup by selecting your Call to Action and Destination.
9. Click Publish to launch the partnership ad.

How to Create a Partnership Ad Without an Ad Code

Complete the same steps as above until step 6, and then follow these instructions:

1. At the Ad level, toggle on Partnership ad.
2. In the Identity section, choose the second identity (the creator’s account) to appear next to your business account in the ad header.
   • Note: You can switch the order of identities if needed, and select the content you wish to boost after choosing at least one identity.
3. If you're using an existing post, go to the Ad setup section and select Use existing post from the dropdown.
4. In the Ad Creative section, click Select Post to choose the content for your partnership ad.
   • If the content isn’t visible, ensure the second identity is selected, or use the Select identity filter to locate your partner’s content.
   • For Instagram Stories, only active stories can be used (archived or highlighted stories are unavailable).
5. After selecting or uploading your content, choose your Ad format under the Format section.
6. Upload additional media as needed under Ad Creative by clicking + Upload and selecting your media.
7. Complete any final optimizations for media placements, then click Done.
8. Once finalized, your ad will be reviewed by Meta and you’ll be notified when it’s approved.

Adding Creator as a Partner on Though Meta Business Suite

Through Meta Business Suite, advertisers can manage their partnership ad relationships directly with partners at the account level. This allows them to run partnership ads without needing additional permissions for each piece of content. Advertisers can also send partnership ad requests for creators to review and accept via the Instagram app. Meta Business Suite provides full transparency, allowing advertisers to view pending, active, or inactive requests where permissions have been granted or removed.

Steps to send a partnership ad request in Meta Business Suite:

• In Meta Business Suite, click Settings in the bottom left corner.
• Select Ad partnerships.
• Click Add Partnership in the top right corner.
• Search for the partner’s username and select their account.
• Click Next and choose your business' Instagram account.
• Partnership ad permissions will be toggled on by default.
• Click Next, then click Send Request to complete the process.

This system helps advertisers easily manage and streamline their partnership ads without needing to coordinate permissions for each ad.

On TikTok

On TikTok, the process for Partnership Ads ads is known as Spark Ads, and it’s relatively straightforward. Once a suitable creator is identified for your brand, they will need to provide access via the TikTok app. This involves generating an authorization code and specifying how long the code will remain valid.

Once you receive this code from the creator, you can proceed to the content directly in your TikTok Ads Manager.

PS. We have a whole guide on TikTok Spark Ads to help you maximize your paid advertising.

Overcoming Challenges in Influencer Partnership Ads Campaigns

Like any strategy, influencer Partnership Ads can present a few roadblocks.

One of the main challenges is securing permission from influencers to run ads on their behalf. Without proper consent and clear communication, campaigns can stall. Ensure you’re building a solid relationship with your influencers and lay down clear communication and collaboration expectations.

Secondly, managing ad fatigue is crucial as too much exposure to the same content can result in diminishing returns and declining engagement levels. Refresh your ad content regularly. Use A/B testing to see which creatives resonate best and keep your audience engaged.

Understanding the Costs and ROI of Influencer Partnership Ads

Partnership Ads typically come with additional costs—both in terms of influencer partnerships and paid ad spending. However, these expenses often lead to strategically higher return-over-investment (ROI) compared to organic influencer posts.

You’re not just paying for influencer reach but for targeted ad placement and enhanced control over the content’s distribution. The ability to control audience targeting and continually optimize ads justifies the investment.

Best Practices for Influencer Partnership Ads Success

1. Choosing the Right Influencer: The first step in any successful campaign is partnering with an influencer who genuinely represents your brand. Choose influencers whose followers already show an interest in your industry or products, as this boosts the likelihood of genuine engagement.
2. Defining Objectives: Set clear and measurable goals for your Partnership Ads. Whether it’s brand awareness, conversions, or engagement, defining objectives ensures that each campaign has a focused purpose and measurable success.
3. Creative Considerations: Leverage the influencer’s natural content creation style. The strength of Partnership Ads lies in how "native" the ad feels—audiences are more likely to engage with an ad that looks and feels like regular influencer content.
4. Tracking Performance: Data is your best friend. Monitor key metrics such as reach, engagement, and conversions, and optimize your campaign based on these insights to maximize results.
5. FTC Compliance: Don’t overlook the importance of transparency. Disclosing your partnership with the influencer helps build trust with their followers and ensures you stay compliant with regulations and guidelines.

Create Partnership Ads to Scale with Ramdam

Navigating the world of influencer marketing can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. It's all about having the right strategy.

That’s why more brands are shifting their focus towards influencer ads that combine authentic content with paid promotion for maximum reach and engagement.

With Ramdam, you can scale your creator ads effortlessly. Our AI-driven platform matches you with the perfect creators while offering rights-ready content that’s optimized for ads. Whether it’s budget management, creator selection, or seamless integration of sponsorship codes, we’ve got you covered.

We simplify everything, from brief development to ad performance tracking, allowing you to transform your influencer strategy into a data-driven, ROI-maximizing machine.

In a nutshell

Influencer Partnership Ads present a strategic opportunity for brands to enhance their advertising efforts by tapping into the authentic voices of creators. This approach not only amplifies brand visibility and engagement but also fosters trust with audiences who are more likely to connect with content from their favorite influencers.

As digital advertising evolves, Partnership Ads stand out as a valuable tactic for brands aiming to navigate the complexities of social media marketing effectively.