In a partnership ad, the creator's name appears next to the brand's.
In a normal Meta ad, the brand is the name at the top. In a partnership ad, the header usually shows both accounts, the creator's and the brand's. Meta may also show only one of them, depending on what it thinks will perform better. To someone scrolling, the ad reads as a post from a person, not a message from a company. But the brand is still the one paying, choosing the audience and controlling the budget, in Ads Manager. Meta used to call these branded content ads, and in the industry you still hear the term whitelisting a lot. As a creator, I'm the one who grants these permissions to brands, so I'll walk you through the process from both sides.
Why the creator's name can sell more
There are three reasons brands use this format with UGC videos.
It looks less like an ad. The eye has learnt to skip anything that comes from a brand. The same video, with a person's name at the top, earns an extra second of attention, and in an ad one second is a lot.
It combines two kinds of proof. The video shows the experience with the product, and the header shows there is a real person behind it, with their own profile that anyone can visit.
The brand keeps control. Audience, budget, schedule, A/B tests and optimisation all stay in Ads Manager, as in any campaign. The creator doesn't see the ad's numbers or touch the budget.
Results always depend on the video, the offer and the page the ad leads to. A partnership ad won't rescue a weak video, but it can give a good one more reach. The most honest way to know whether it's worth it is to test the same video as a normal ad and as a partnership ad and compare the cost per result.
One post or the whole account
There are two ways a creator can grant permission, and it's worth knowing which one you're asking for.
Permission for one post. The creator publishes the video on their profile as a paid partnership with the brand, and shares a partnership ad code for that post. The brand uses the code to promote that specific post. The same code can be used by up to two advertisers at a time.
Account-level permission. The creator gives the brand permission to create partnership ads using their identity. In that case, the brand can run videos under the creator's name without the creator having posted them. It's the most practical option when the video was made purely for ads and doesn't belong on the creator's feed. Be aware that this permission also lets the brand turn the creator's existing posts that tag the brand into ads, such as paid partnerships, mentions, tags or collabs, including archived ones.
The second option gives the brand more freedom, so it calls for more trust and more in writing: which videos can be used, with what copy and for how long.
How to set up the ad
The menus change from time to time, but the route is this.
- Agree in writing. Before touching any settings: which videos, which type of permission, what term, and whether the creator posts on their own profile.
- The creator grants permission. From their professional Instagram account, they approve the brand as a partner or generate the partnership ad code and send it over.
- The brand creates the ad. In Ads Manager, while setting up the ad, turn on the partnership ad option, choose the creator and select the post or video, or use the code received.
- Review and launch. The ad goes through Meta's normal review and starts running with both names.
- End of term. When the agreed period ends, the brand switches off the ads and the creator removes the permission. If the permission was given by code, turning the code off does not stop ads that are already running.
What the brand gets, and what it doesn't
The creator doesn't hand over a password or access to their account: permission is given through a code or a request they accept in the app, and it only covers using their content or identity in ads. A video sent to the brand for upload through Ads Manager doesn't appear on the creator's grid. The advertiser can, however, hide comments on the original post while promoting it.
Meta also states that the creator can revoke permission at any time, and that partnership ad permissions don't set compensation or transfer ownership of content: that comes from a separate agreement between brand and creator. In other words, what is paid, for how long and on what terms is always agreed between the brand and the creator, outside the platform. If permission is withdrawn before the agreed term ends, that agreement decides what happens.
How long it lasts and how it's removed
On Meta's help pages, permission stays active until someone revokes it, with no automatic end date. Meta has announced expiration dates in its newer creator tools, but don't count on that: the term has to be in the agreement, with a start and end date, and someone has to remember to honour it.
There's also an important detail in how permission is removed. If the creator removes account-level permission, running ads are paused. If they turn off a partnership ad code, that only blocks new ads: the ones already running carry on until the brand stops them.
On TikTok, the equivalent tool is called Spark Ads and works in a similar way: the creator turns on ad authorisation on a published video and generates a code for the length they choose: 7, 30, 60 or 365 days. The brand enters it in TikTok Ads Manager, and the views, likes, comments, shares and follows the ad earns count toward the original post. When the authorisation expires, the brand can no longer use the video and the creator has to extend it.
What to agree with the creator before asking for the code
- Which videos can be used, and whether permission is per post or account-level.
- For how long, with dates.
- Whether the creator posts the video on their profile, and whether it can be taken down afterwards. If it goes on their profile, it has to be clearly marked as advertising: in most countries advertising rules require it, and the platforms have a "paid partnership" label for this.
- What copy will appear in the ad. Their name is at the top, so show them the text first, and don't put a promise in their mouth they wouldn't make.
- Who replies to comments, which appear on the ad and, in some cases, on their post.
- Whether there's exclusivity during the campaign.
- The fee, because using the creator's identity in ads is worth more than using the video alone, and it's agreed separately.
All of this is part of the video's usage rights.
Partnership ad or brand ad?
It doesn't have to be one or the other. A route that works well is this: launch the video as a normal brand ad, find out whether the message and hook work, then test the same piece as a partnership ad. If the cost per result drops, run it both ways or only as a partnership ad.
The format makes most sense when trust weighs on the buying decision: health and wellbeing, education, finance, services. It makes less sense when the brand doesn't have ads running yet. In that case, the first step is good videos and a clear objective. I wrote about that in UGC for Meta ads.
How I work
I make videos designed to run as ads, in English and Portuguese, and with creators from my community I can also deliver in other markets and languages. I agree from the start whether they'll be used as a normal ad, a partnership ad or both, and I write the term of the permission into the proposal. After delivery I stay available to support the brand as the campaign grows. See the Hiwell case study, a video that ran as a paid ad, or ask for a proposal.
Sources
- Meta Business Help Centre: partnership ads, permissions and partnership ad codes (accessed November 2026)
- Meta Business Help Centre: how creators manage and remove partnership ad permissions (accessed November 2026)
- TikTok Business Help Centre: Spark Ads and authorisation codes (accessed November 2026)
