The “Paid Partnership With” feature on Instagram has become increasingly popular recently with influencers using it to help grow their audience and brands using it as a way to engage more directly.
This article takes an in-depth look at what paid partnerships on Instagram entail, how it works for both parties involved, and why you might want to use it yourself.
What Does “Paid Partnership With” Mean?
When you notice an influencer upload a post, and then you see “Paid Partnership with…” above the post in feed or story, it means that the person who shared it has a business relationship with the brand mentioned and that they were compensated for the post in some way.
Through the paid partnership tag on these sponsored posts, users are able to indicate that they are part of Instagram's Paid Partnership program, which allows them to work with business partners to promote branded content ads.
Instagram launched this feature in June last year to mitigate the risks of creating sponsored posts. At its launch, it was only open to a small group of brands and influencers.
More users were added in September, and by November, the feature was made available to all Instagram accounts with included access to insights data.
You might be wondering: Why add this feature, and why now?
The Paid Partnership with feature is in line with the new measures taken by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US to crack down on businesses and any influencers that violate its requirements.
When brands partner with an influencer to advertise sponsored content campaigns, it gives them access to a vast number of potential customers. This is because Instagram users get to know and patronise products and services from the accounts they follow.
As a result, the FTC took on a more serious approach to violations of its Endorsement Guides.
Benefits of the New Paid Partnership Feature
The paid partnership feature directly gives brands access to insights on an influencer and the engagement they are driving. With this function, a business engaged in sponsored content partnerships can garner statistics and information on how their branded content campaigns are performing on Instagram.
This will allow them to get paid partnership insights to help them make better business decisions on future Instagram influencer campaigns marketing. Plus, these stats also help them know which influencers are more effective for their products and services. Even more, they can estimate the ROI to expect from individual influencers.
Properly Disclosing Paid Partnerships
From an influencer marketing point of view, this function helps creators build transparency and create a more trusting relationship with their audience by disclosing that a post is sponsored by a business partner.
The function is a two-way street in the sense that it also gives business account owners access to data to help them make insightful decisions on which influencers to engage.
What’s more, it informs other brands that the influencer engages in paid partnerships, and this might lead to an increase in the number of sponsorship opportunities the influencer receives. When a business becomes aware an influencer is effective when it comes to branded content ad campaigns, it will be easier for them to make the case for a budget and later on for measuring influencer marketing ROI.
How Does the Paid Partnership Tag Work
When a post is tagged, Instagram users will see it in the post’s header (Paid Partnership with [business name]) in the place where the post’s location usually appears.
On Instagram Stories, this feature appears at the top of the story directly below the name of the user. When a business is tagged using this paid partnership feature, they’ll be able to see the likes and comments of the post in their Facebook Page Insights or on Facebook's Business Manager.
However, when this function is used on Instagram Stories, businesses are only given a 14-day window to see metrics such as replies, taps backward, taps forward, and exits.
Businesses can also turn on the “Partner Approval” on their settings. This gives them the ability to either approve or disapprove of tagged content posts before it goes public.
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Getting Started on Sponsored Posts or Paid Partnerships
Your next question might be how to tag brands on a sponsored or paid partnership on the Instagram app.
- If you're creating a regular post, select "Advanced Settings" on the last page before you share the post.
- If you're creating it on Instagram Stories, go to the icon toolbar up top and tap on the link icon to show the option to tag business partner.
- For both situations, under the "Branded Content" area, you will see an "Add paid partnership label". It will alert you that you can now use branded content tools.
- Start adding the business partner(s) you want to work with. You will be given the option to search for them like you would a regular user with a personal account. Adding a partner will require approvals in this part of the process.
- Once you get the approval, you can select the partner before making the post live.
- Note that on the side of the business that you're seeking approval from, they will get options on their business settings to toggle branded content approvals and approve influencers as business partners.
For influencers who may have been struggling with building their audiences or for brands looking for new ways to reach out to consumers, implementing paid partnership features might be just what they need in order to drive success.
Using the said feature on Instagram can be a great way for a brand to build an audience and get more eyes on their content. If you want to increase engagement with potential customers, this is one of many tools at your disposal that could help you grow an engaged following and boost sales.
Looking for Instagram influencers? We can help.
Here’s just a handful we have on theright.fit platform:
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