Instagram creator marketplace: how brands find and pay creators

What the Instagram creator marketplace is

The Instagram creator marketplace is a tool for brands and creators to connect and collaborate around partnership opportunities. A brand searches for creators who fit, sends them a message or a paid project, agrees the work and the fee, and can then turn the creator's posts into partnership ads that carry the creator's handle.

Meta began testing it in the US in 2022 and later said it planned to invite brands and creators based in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Japan, India and Brazil. Creators can now join it in all countries where Meta advertising operates, while brands must be based in one of the countries where Creator Marketing Hub is available.

The marketplace covers discovery, messages, offers and ad permissions, but payments are made off the Meta platform, by whatever method the brand and creator agree.

Meta creator marketplace, Creator Marketing Hub and partnership messages

Meta's help pages use a different name for each side of the same tool. On the brand side, Meta Creator Marketing Hub helps brands discover creators and creator content, evaluate performance, manage permissions, and select creator content to run as partnership ads. On the creator side, the help pages call it Meta Creator Marketplace. The brand page treats the two as one product: it says a business portfolio admin must grant users permission to access Instagram’s creator marketplace before a team member can use the hub.

Who is eligible for the Instagram creator marketplace

Meta's two eligibility pages set different requirements for brands and creators.

Meta also notes on its brand pages that the feature may not be available to you yet, so an eligible account may still not see it.

Agencies can use their client’s Instagram account once they have obtained the required client permissions. An agency that wants to use its own Instagram account instead needs a verified business portfolio.

How a brand joins Creator Marketing Hub

Brands join in Meta Business Suite, while creators join from their professional dashboard in the Instagram app.

1. Set up the business portfolio

   Create and verify a business portfolio in Meta Business Suite. The brand's Instagram account and linked Facebook page must be business assets of the verified business portfolio.

2. Open Creator marketing

   In Meta Business Suite, click Creator marketing on the left navigation bar. You can also reach Creator Marketing Hub in Ads Manager below All Tools>Advertise.

3. Agree to the terms

   On the first visit, click Get started and follow the prompts. You'll be asked to agree to the terms before you can search.

4. Give your team access

   A business portfolio admin must grant users permission to access Instagram’s creator marketplace from Meta Business Suite settings, and you must be on desktop to do it. Anyone who will build campaigns needs Creator management permissions.

How brands search for creators

The Discover creators tab in Creator Marketing Hub shows creator recommendations personalized to your brand.

1. Start with a keyword

   Type keywords into the search box at the top of the Discover creators tab. The search suggests keywords that are specifically tailored to your brand using context from your profile and content.

2. Filter the results

   Narrow the list with filters such as interests, age and follower count. Filters work on both creators and target audiences, so you can look for creators whose audience matches your customers.

3. Open the creator profile

   Click a creator card to see the full profile, which shows past and active partnership ads, branded content, past partners and metrics. Reach and engagement figures cover activity in the last 30 days.

4. Save a list

   From a profile, you can message the creator or add them to a list for future outreach. You can also upload a .csv file of creator handles and see similar creators.

5. Contact the creator

   Use the Contact button on the creator card to copy the creator’s email, if available, or send them a message. Replies appear under Partnership messages in your Meta Business Suite inbox.

How to send a campaign offer to creators

A campaign lets brands create and send a project to multiple creators, or lets creators express interest in it. You build it under Manage campaigns in Creator Marketing Hub.

1. Choose a goal and who can see it

   Pick a campaign goal, then choose whether the campaign is discoverable by creators or invite-only. A discoverable campaign can limit who applies by gender, age, follower count and target audience.

2. Decide whether the offer is fixed

   With a fixed offer, creators see that the content and pay aren’t open to negotiation. You also won’t be able to change the compensation details after the campaign has been published.

3. List the deliverables

   Set how many pieces of each format you want, from Stories, Posts and Reels, plus the date to register interest and the posting window. Each of these dates isn’t enforced by Meta, so put deadlines in your own agreement too.

4. Set the payment

   Offer at least $100. The total can include payment for content, payment for ad boost permission, and any free products. The fee for ad boost permission is shown separately from payment for content.

5. Publish and invite

   Publish the campaign, then invite creators from lists you have created. For a discoverable campaign, you can also review creators who expressed interest under Interested creators on the campaign summary page.

How brands pay creators on the Instagram creator marketplace

Instagram records the offer but does not move the money. Brands are responsible for payment, and creators receive payment directly from the brand (not through Instagram or Facebook).

Before a creator accepts, they can ask clarifying questions, negotiate the payment and discuss timelines. Once they accept, the brand will not be able to make changes, so settle every change first. Some creators are paid a flat rate or with gifted products, while others are paid per piece of content based on the performance of a campaign, and creators can be paid more if their content is used in an ad.

Example: a brand offers $150 for one reel and $50 for ad boost permission. The campaign's payment summary adds the two into a Total payment per creator, so it shows $200. The brand pays the $200 off Instagram, then marks the project as paid.

• For a post to count toward the project, the creator must select the project when adding the paid partnership label.
• On the Campaigns tab, you can see the status of the project and payment for each creator.
• When you have paid, mark the project as paid. Once the brand has marked the project as paid, the creator's project shows the amount earned.
• If you send free products, everything involved in sending them is your responsibility.
• To leave Creator Marketing Hub, a brand must not have any active campaigns and must make any pending project payments.

Partnership ads: running a creator's post as an ad

Partnership ads let advertisers run ads with partners: creators, brands, and other businesses. The partner account, the advertiser account or both are featured in the ad’s header, depending on the identity setting the brand picks.

To run one, advertisers need permission from the partner whose handle the ad will include. Creators and other partners can revoke these permissions at any time. Meta lists content-level and account-level permissions, and each allows different things.

In Ads Manager, create a campaign, set the conversion location, budget, schedule and audience, and at the ad level turn on the partnership ad toggle. To boost a creator's post, paste your ad code, post ID or post URL. Then choose which identities appear in the header. Dynamic identity is turned on by default. When you publish the ad, it will be reviewed by Meta.

Partnership ads are not the same as organic branded content. If you also want a creator to tag your brand with the paid partnership label on organic posts, you grant them permission separately from partnership ads permissions. In a campaign, the ad permission is the ad boost permission you request, and you can also request this permission later, after the content is posted, by contacting the creator.

The paid partnership label and disclosure rules

Paid posts need disclosure. Instagram's branded content policies require creators to use the paid partnership label to tag the brand they are working with. Until the brand approves the creator's tag request, the post carries the paid partnership label without the brand partner’s name. Once the post is live, the tagged brand also gets access to the content's insights. Meta's branded content rules also require that creators have an authentic, established presence on Instagram or Facebook.

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission also covers influencer disclosures. It says a platform's disclosure feature is no guarantee that it’s an effective way for influencers to disclose their material connection to a brand, and that the ultimate responsibility for disclosing a material connection rests with the influencer and the brand – not the platform. It also says advertisers need reasonable programs in place to train and monitor members of their network.

Disclosure rules differ from country to country. This section is general information, not legal advice.

What to settle before you send the first offer

The marketplace leaves several parts of the deal to the brand and the creator. Put these points in writing.

1. Payment. Name the method, the currency and the date, for example a bank transfer or an invoice.
2. Deadlines. Write the posting date into your agreement, because a campaign date isn’t enforced by Meta.
3. Ad rights. Say whether you want content-level or account-level permission, for how long, and what you pay for it.
4. Review. Ask for a draft before the creator posts. Instagram's creator help page recommends that creators share a draft of the content with the brand.
5. Shipping. If you send products, agree who pays postage and how you will handle the creator's address.

Where Nation fits

Questions about the Instagram creator marketplace