Instagram’s

Creator
Marketplace
 Instagram’s Creator
Marketplace
We are excited to announce Instagram’s creator marketplace–a new suite of
features that will help creators select brands they’re interested in partnering with
and will help brands more easily discover, connect, and collaborate with the most
strategic creators for their branded content partnerships!

In this guide you’ll learn how to use the creator marketplace to discover potential
brand partners and land those dream brand deals directly within the Instagram
app—making it easier for you manage your business and earn a living as a creator.

Chapter 1:
Monetization foundations
Chapter 2:
Onboarding
Chapter 3:
Discovery
Chapter 4:
Creator Messaging
Chapter 5:
Projects
Chapter 6:
FAQ
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Chapter 1:
Monetization Foundations

Partner Monetization Policies

Before onboarding with Instagram’s creator marketplace, it’s important to be

aware of the guidelines an account must follow to be eligible for monetization.

First, creators must adhere to Instagram Partner Monetization Policies in

order to gain access to tools that enable monetization, including (but not
limited to) Instagram’s creator marketplace.

Instagram Partner Monetization Policies are necessary to help create a

safe environment for the Instagram community. In order to use Monetization
tools on Instagram, you’ll need to:

Comply with our Comply with our

Community Guidelines
These rules apply to all content and
interactions on Instagram, including rules
against hate speech, calls for violence and
sexualized content. Any content posted that
violates our Community Guidelines, including
our policies regarding intellectual property,
authenticity and user safety, may cause
creators to lose their eligibility to use
Instagram af liate.
Content Monetization Policies
Monetized content must pass an additional
level of standards above and beyond our
Community Guidelines. These rules are called
Instagram Content Monetization Policies.
These include deeper restrictions on the
content itself and the formats in which it is
presented.

Develop an Established Presence Reside in an Eligible Country

Creators and publishers must have an
authentic, established presence on Instagram.
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In order to monetize your content, you must
reside in an eligible country where the product
or feature is available. You may lose your
ability to monetize if you move to an ineligible
location or if Instagram changes product
eligibility.
 Chapter 1:
Monetization Foundations

Tips for Maintaining Eligibility

Only share content that you created Don’t engage in any behavior that
and which you have the rights to use. arti cially boosts views or engagement.

Maintain an established presence for Don’t post content that could be

your account.
Follow Instagram’s terms for making
and receiving payments.
considered false, misleading or overly
sensational.
Don’t share content in ways that
compromise quality for viral distribution.

Con rm Your Eligibility

To check your eligibility for
Instagram’s monetization tools:

1. Go to Account Settings.

2. Tap on “Creator” or “Business”

(depending on your account type).

3. Tap on ‘Branded Content’ to learn

more.
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Chapter 2:
Onboarding

The following steps will guide you through the onboarding process
directly in the Instagram App.

Note: Before attempting to onboard, ensure you are on the

latest version of the Instagram App.

1. Open the Instagram app and enter the onboarding flow

From Professional Dashboard From Branded content tools

From your Pro le, tap on ‘View From Professional Dashboard,

Professional Dashboard’. tap on ‘Branded content tools’.
Tap ‘Stand out for brand deals’. Tap ‘Join creator marketplace’.

You may also see a pop-up at the top of your feed about brand deals on Instagram. If you see
this, tap ‘Get started’ to be taken through onboarding.
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 Chapter 2:
Onboarding

2. Allow access
As part of the onboarding process, you will be taken through a series of approvals that outline
what information brands can see about you and your audience.

Partner Discovery Account Insights Audience Details

This allows brands to This gives brands a view This allows brands seeking
discover you when into your account’s a speci c audience to
searching for creators performance, helping them discover you based on the
based on age, gender, understand the potential age range, gender,
location, or follower count. of partnering with you. location, and interests of
your followers.

Why it’s helpful: Giving a brand visibility into audience details helps them better select creators whose
audience overlaps with their target audience. This gets you on their radar and increases the likelihood of
a successful partnership for both the brand and creator.
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Chapter 2:
Onboarding

Partnership messages: Never miss a partnership opportunity!

When a brand is interested in partnering with you, their message will now be routed to a new,
exclusive folder within the Primary tab called ‘Partnership messages’. No more missing great
opportunities that get lost in your message ‘Requests’ folder—this new feature will help keep
partnership conversations organized, top of mind, and separate from messages with your
followers.

Once you’ve accepted all changes, onboarding is complete!

 Chapter 3:
Discovery

Preferred Brand Partners

Once you’ve onboarded, you will select your preferred brand partners. These are brands that
you’re interested in working with. When brands are exploring creator partners, they will see which
creators have already expressed interest in their priority list.

Note: If a brand is
removed from or leaves
Tip: While appearing on the program, their
a brand’s priority list name will appear in your
doesn’t guarantee list but it will be grayed
partnerships, it puts out. Creators will no
you on the brand’s longer be able to select
radar when they’re the brand as a
searching for creators preferred partner and
to partner with. the brand will no longer
be able to access past
messages.

To select your preferred brand partners:

Professional Dashboard > Branded content tools > Creator marketplace > Preferred brand
partners.
Under ‘Your preferred brand partners’ you will see a list of ‘Brands using creator
marketplace’.
Tap ‘Select’ next to any brand whose list you’d like to be included on. The brand will then be
shown under ‘Your preferred brand partners’ list.

Tip: If you’re interested in connecting with a brand you love, make sure you organically post about them
and engage with their content as well. When you select them as a preferred brand partner, perhaps
they’ll recognize your name from your organic engagement!
 Chapter 3:
Discovery

Partner Discovery Settings

You will also need to indicate the topics and interests that are most relevant for you. This will help
ensure that the opportunities you get are a good t and will resonate with your audience.
Navigate to the ‘Branded
Content’ screen.

Tap ‘Partner discovery

settings’.

Tap ‘Add interest’ and

select a primary category.

Each category has sub-

categories, allowing
creators to be even more
speci c about the type of
content they are interested
in.

You can add multiple

interests, as well as remove
an interest at any time.

Tip: If you’d like to opt

out of partner
discovery, tap the three
dots at the top of the
Partner discovery
settings page and you
will be given that option.
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Chapter 3:
Discovery

Creator Marketplace: Creator Portfolio

The creator portfolio feature is a powerful tool that makes it easier for you to pitch yourself to
potential brand partners. Think of it as a highlight reel of your greatest content!
From Professional
Dashboard, tap on ‘Set up a
creator portfolio.’

The creator portfolio will

launch with some default
content, but you have the
power to customize by
adding a cover photo and
sections.

Section options include:

• Text: describe your

work.

• Posts: Showcase your

best work.

• Instagram pro les:

Highlight people or
brands you’ve
partnered with.

When complete, save your

creator portfolio.

The default visibility is

private, but you can change
it so that any brands on the
marketplace can access
your portfolio, as well as
anyone you send a direct
link.
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Chapter 4:
Creator Messaging

Partnership Messages
To help keep partnership messages organized, new messages from brands that meet eligibility
standards will now go to a dedicated folder at the top of your Primary tab (instead of ‘Requests’).

To view your partnership messages, tap ‘OK’.

Tap into the ‘Partnership messages’ folder to view messages from brands.

Tip: Your partnership messages folder will automatically appear once the rst eligible brand contacts you.
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Chapter 4:
Creator Messaging

From here, you can respond directly to the brand to begin learning more about the partnership
opportunity.

Partnership Messages
When a brand initially reaches out, you will receive a pop-up noti cation alerting you. Tap the
pop-up to view the full message and respond to the brand from your partnership messages
folder.

Searching Messages
When searching your messages, you will see ‘Partnership message’ noted next to any brand
that you have an existing conversation with, making it easier to identify those messages that
are most relevant to your business.
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 Chapter 4:
Creator Messaging

Messaging Noti cation Setting

In order to receive noti cations
when brands send you a new
message, navigate to Settings >
Noti cations > Direct Messages
> Partnership Messages > ‘On’.

Tip: All participating brands are following Instagram’s policies and are carefully pre-selected—which means
messages you receive in your ‘Partnership messages’ folder are from trusted brand partners.
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Chapter 5:
Projects

Project Offers
Not only can brands reach out and connect with you directly, but they can also send over a project
that allows you to review the details and requirements, as well as the proposed rate.
From the ‘Partnership
messages’ folder, tap on the
brand conversation.

Tap ‘View project’.

Review the details and

requirements carefully and
tap ‘Accept project’ if you’d
like to move forward.

Tip: If you have

questions about the
project or would like
to negotiate, do so Tip: Use the chat as a
before accepting. The source of
brand can update the collaboration and
offer and resend to feedback throughout
you. the project.
Chapter 5:
Projects

Project Completion
When posting content, you need to add the paid partnership label. You will also be able to select the
project that the content is associated with so that it automatically tracks your deliverables.
When posting, tap ‘Add paid
partnership label’.

Toggle the paid partnership

label on and tap ‘Add a brand
from a project’.

Select the project that

corresponds with the content.

You will see a reminder to

share the content with the
brand before posting. This is a
recommended best practice.
You can use the chat to share
previews of content and
captions.

Once you’ve completed all

content, you and the brand
will receive a message in the
chat.

Tip: Once you accept a

project, you will receive
automatic permission to
tag your brand partner
on all content
corresponding to the
project.
Chapter 5:
Projects

Project Management
You can view and manage all current and past projects in one place.

From the Branded content

menu, tap on ‘Manage
projects’.

Tap on the project to

review all the details.
Chapter 5:
Projects

Creator Marketplace: Discoverable Projects

Discoverable projects in the creator marketplace allow creators to browse publicly posted projects
from brands and apply to the ones that are of interest.

From the Branded content

menu, tap ‘View available
projects’

Each project listed will show

the brand, campaign name,
content ask and available
budget.

Tap through on the project

and indicate that you’re
interested.

If the brand decides to

partner with you, you will
receive a message in your
Partnership messages folder.

You can review the nal

details of the offer and tap to
‘Accept project’ or continue
the conversation if you have
questions or want to
negotiate any of the terms.
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 Chapter 5:
Projects

Creator Marketplace: Discoverable Projects

You can easily refer back to projects you’ve expressed interest in, accepted, and completed.

Once you’ve accepted the

project, you’ll see a pop-up
con rming your partnership.

Now when you view the

project, you’ll see it the label
changed to “In progress.”

Under “Managed projects,’

you can see all the projects
you’re working on and have
expressed interest in.

You can also see completed

projects in the tab under the
check icon.
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Chapter 6:
FAQs
Q: Why can’t I nd all my favorite brands?
A: We have identi ed a number of brands that
have demonstrated interest in branded
content, speci cally within beauty and fashion.
As we continue to expand our features, we will
also grow our brand participants.
Q: I’m trying to onboard but don’t see
“creator marketplace” popping up in my
app. What’s wrong?
A: Make sure you have the latest version of
the app downloaded.
Q: Why is this only open to beauty/fashion
brands/creators?
A: We are starting with beauty and fashion
because we see a considerable amount of
branded content created by these brands and
creators. We are currently evaluating other
verticals to expand to next.
Q: Does the entire process (start to nish)
of a brand deal take place within the app?
A: Brands will message you directly within the
app if they’re interested in partnering with
you and will send over project details for you
to review and accept or decline. For the time
being, contracts and payments with brands
will happen outside of the app.
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Q: Can I let a brand know I’m interested in
working with them?
A: You can indicate interest by adding your
favorite brands to your ‘Preferred brand
partners’ list in your branded content
settings. When those brands are looking for
creators, you will be featured as a potential
partner. Also, a best practice is to organically
engage with brands you love—perhaps they’ll
recognize your name when it pops up on their
list!
Q: What happens if I want to leave the
marketplace?
A: If you want to opt out of creator
marketplace you can do so in Partner
discovery settings. Brands won't be able to
send you new messages through the
partnership messages folder.
Q: Can I tag speci c products from the
brand in my posts?
A: When you accept a project, you will
automatically receive permission to tag the
brand partner, but not their speci c products.
If a brand would like you to tag products, they
will need to provide an additional permission in
the app.