Branded content

Branded content is one of the ways Meta’s Newsroom identifies for creators to earn money.1 A June 2024 conversation posted by Adam Mosseri described how creators with 1,000 or 10,000 followers could make content for a much larger brand’s own pages by contributing creative skills.6 Mosseri advised in March 2024 that creators who can afford to be selective should choose brands they genuinely believe in, because audiences can usually tell when an endorsement is not sincere.7 A September 2024 conversation posted by Mosseri also emphasized learning the business side of creator work without taking advantage of the audience.8

Instagram’s branded content disclosure tool displays “Paid partnership with” on a post or story, followed by the business partner’s account.2 Using the tool gives both the creator and the business partner access to the post’s Insights, which show how followers engage with it.2

For branded content stories, partnership ads let a brand advertise the content with the creator’s permission.3 Meta’s Newsroom explains that a creator can select “Allow brand partner to boost” while creating an Instagram story.3 Selecting that option prompts the creator to address errors that would prevent the content from being used in an ad.3

Instagram for Creators’ originality guidance recognizes content a creator produces with approved partners, including through the branded content and partnership ads tools.9 For branded content incorporating someone else’s material, the broader originality guidance also matters: merely changing a caption or adding superficial elements does not count as substantially editing that material.9