What Are Partnership Ads on Facebook and Instagram?

A partnership ad lets you advertise with someone else’s identity alongside, or instead of, your own. The partner can be a creator, another brand or another business. Meta places the partner’s account, your account, or both in the ad’s header, and says the ad draws on signals from both accounts for ranking. What used to be called branded content ads now carries the partnership ads name.

How do partnership ads differ from organic branded content?

They are separate things with separate permissions. Organic branded content is a partner’s own post that tags your account with the paid partnership label. Meta says partnership ads are not the same as organic branded content: if you want a partner to tag your account on their organic posts, you grant that permission separately from partnership ads permissions.

What permission do you need from the partner?

Meta describes two kinds:

Permission type	What it lets the advertiser do
Account-level	Create partnership ads by boosting the partner’s existing content or uploading new content in Ads Manager
Content-level (ad code)	Boost one specific post, story or reel that the partner shares a partnership ad code for

Facts about ad codes from Meta’s permissions page:

• One ad code can be used by up to 2 advertisers at a time.
• On Instagram, archiving the content does not remove the advertiser’s ad code access.
• Archived Facebook content cannot be boosted into a partnership ad.
• If the partner turns the code toggle off, no new ads can use it, but active ads keep running.

Meta also requires that you meet its partnership ads and branded content eligibility requirements, and that the content is in an eligible format. It recommends linking your Instagram and Facebook accounts.

How do you create a partnership ad with an ad code?

1. Go to Ads Manager and click + Create.
2. Select your ad objective.
3. Complete the conversion location, budget, schedule and audience, then click Next.
4. Turn on the Partnership ad toggle at the ad level.
5. Click Enter ad code or post info, and paste the ad code, post ID or post URL.
6. Select the second identity to appear in the header.
7. Choose to show both identities, the first identity only, or dynamic identity.
8. Click Done, finish the ad and click Publish.

Meta reviews the ad after you publish and notifies you when it is approved.

Which identity appears in the ad header?

You choose one of three options. Dynamic identity is on by default and picks whichever header option Meta predicts will perform best. Both identities are shown on placements that do not support dynamic identity. On WhatsApp Status, both identities always appear, because that placement supports neither dynamic identity nor a single identity.

FAQ

Can a partnership ad run without the creator having a Facebook Page?

Yes. Meta says a partnership ad run with a non-advertiser partner who has no Facebook Page can still appear on Facebook, using the partner’s Instagram name, profile picture and other details. The partner still has to grant you permission, either at account level or with a partnership ad code.

Can my agency run partnership ads for me?

Yes, with permissions in place. Meta says that if you work with an agency to run partnership ads, you need to grant the agency permissions across your Instagram account, your Facebook Page and your ad account. The partner’s permission to you is a separate step.

Can I hide comments on the boosted post before the ad goes live?

No. Meta says you will not be able to manage or delete likes and comments that appear on the boosted post until your partnership ad is live. Plan to moderate comments once the ad is approved and running, rather than while it is still in review.