Partnership ads let a UK brand pay to show a creator’s content with the creator’s name on it, rather than reposting the clip from the brand’s own account. This page covers that paid format only: setting up the permissions, choosing which creator content to put money behind, building the campaigns in your own ad account, checking the disclosure is right and measuring what the spend brings in. Finding creators, agreeing fees and managing the relationship stay with you or whoever already does that for you.
What partnership ads are
Partnership ads are a Meta ad format, previously called branded content ads, that runs on Facebook and Instagram. The ad header shows both the creator’s handle and your brand, and Meta adds a paid partnership label so viewers can see a commercial arrangement sits behind it. You pay for the media from your ad account, your targeting and tracking apply, and the creator does not need to spend anything or hand over their login.
There are two common routes. The creator can share a code for a post they have already published, which you then run as an ad, or they can grant your business standing permission to create partnership ads using their identity, with or without an existing post. Which route suits depends on how much control the creator wants over what goes out under their name, and that should be written into your agreement with them before any ad is built.
Brands use the format because people often react differently to a recommendation that appears to come from someone they follow than to a polished brand ad. Whether that holds for your product and your creators is something to test, not assume.
Who partnership ads suit
They suit UK consumer brands that already pay creators for content, or are about to, and want that content to reach more people than the creator’s organic posts do. Beauty, skincare, fashion, food and drink, fitness and home products are the obvious fits, because a person using the product on camera explains it well. If you sell online, partnership ads usually sit inside a wider plan, and Facebook ads for an online shop covers how they fit with catalogue and retargeting campaigns.
They suit you less if you have no creator relationships yet and want someone to find and manage them; that is a separate piece of work I do not cover here. They are also a poor first step if your Meta tracking is not reliable, because you will not be able to tell whether the creator content beats your own ads. And if what you really need is more video of any kind, video, Reels and Stories ads may be the better starting point, with creator content added later.
What the work covers
Permissions and access
I set up the partnership connection between your business portfolio and each creator’s Instagram or Facebook account, request the right level of permission, and keep a record of what each creator has agreed to and for how long. If a creator withdraws permission or it lapses, the ads that depend on it stop running, so I keep the dates in view.
Choosing what to run
I review the creator content you have rights to and pick the pieces most likely to work as ads: a clear opening, the product shown in use, and a reason to act. Where existing posts are weak, I write a short brief for the next piece of content so the creator has something specific to work from without losing their own style.
Campaign build
Partnership ads are built in your ad account alongside your other campaigns. I set up tests that compare creator content against your own brand ads on the same audience and budget, so the comparison is fair.
Disclosure checks
Before launch I check that every ad, and the original post it comes from, is labelled the way UK rules expect. More on that below.
Measurement
Results are judged on purchases, sign-ups or enquiries recorded by your own tracking, not on likes. I report by creator and by piece of content, so you can see whose work earns its fee as paid media and whose does not.
How I run a partnership campaign
- Agreement check. I read the usage terms you have with each creator: which content you can run as ads, for how long, whether it can be edited, and whether paid usage was priced in. Gaps here are cheaper to fix before launch than after.
- Tracking check. I confirm purchases or leads are being recorded properly, so the test has something reliable to measure.
- Content selection and briefs. I shortlist existing content and brief anything new.
- Build and launch. Permissions, ads and audiences are set up in your account, with disclosure checked on every ad.
- Test and compare. Creator content runs against your own best ads until each has enough purchases or enquiries behind it to compare fairly. How long that takes depends on your budget and how often people buy.
- Refresh. Creator ads tire like any other ad. I watch for creative fatigue and tell you when a new piece of content is needed and from whom.
UK disclosure rules you cannot skip
Paying to boost a creator’s content makes it an advertisement, and UK rules require that to be obvious. Rule 2.1 of the CAP Code says marketing must be obviously identifiable as marketing, and the Advertising Standards Authority holds the brand responsible as well as the creator. The joint ASA and CMA guidance for influencers expects a clear label such as “Ad” or “#ad” placed up front, and treats a platform’s own partnership tag as helpful rather than something to rely on alone.
The Competition and Markets Authority enforces consumer protection law on hidden advertising too, and since April 2025 it can fine businesses directly under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. In practice I check three things on every partnership ad: the original post is labelled as an ad, the label is visible without tapping “more”, and the creator is not making product claims your own ads could not make, such as health benefits you cannot substantiate. I am not a lawyer, and if your sector carries extra rules, such as financial promotions, take legal advice on the claims themselves.
Common mistakes with creator ads
- Paying for posts without paid usage rights. A fee for an organic post does not automatically cover running it as an ad for months. The creator may reasonably ask for more, or say no.
- Running the creator’s best organic post unchanged. What performed on their feed was often helped by their audience already knowing them. Cold audiences need the product and the reason to buy much earlier.
- No comparison against brand ads. Without a fair test you cannot say whether the creator content earns its extra cost.
- Judging creators on engagement. Comments and likes are pleasant, but sales or enquiries decide whether the spend was worth it.
- Missing labels on older posts. A post published before the deal was paid may not carry an ad label, and putting money behind it without one is a disclosure problem.
What you receive
- A record of creator permissions, usage terms and expiry dates.
- A shortlist of creator content to run, with reasons, and briefs for new pieces.
- Partnership campaigns built in your own ad account, with disclosure checked on each ad.
- A report by creator and content piece, compared against your own ads, with a plain recommendation on who to keep paying for paid usage.
Once a creator ad has reached people, retargeting campaigns can follow up with those who watched or visited without buying. If you would rather I ran the whole account with creator ads as one part of it, Facebook ads management covers every campaign type.
Pricing and next step
Your ad spend goes from your ad account straight to Meta, in pounds, and any creator fees are agreed between you and the creator. My fee covers permissions, content selection, build, testing and reporting, and depends on how many creators and pieces of content are involved. Each quote is written after a free first call, in GBP, and agreed in writing before work starts.
Send me the creator content you already have rights to and I will tell you which pieces I would test first, whether the disclosure is in order, and whether your tracking is ready to give a fair answer.