How can a B2B brand find creators and run Meta partnership ads with the new Creator Marketing Hub?

TofuAnswer by the Tofu team · checked

Meta launched Creator Marketing Hub globally on September 15, 2026: find creators there, send a partnership request, then build the ad in Ads Manager. To get in, your brand needs a verified business portfolio that holds an Instagram account linked to a Facebook Page. Some new features, such as permissions with expiry dates and one-click ad drafts, roll out through the end of 2026, so your Hub may not show them yet. For B2B lead gen, partnership ads work with the Leads objective, using instant forms or your website.

As of November 2026.

Before you start

  • A verified business portfolio with an Instagram account linked to a Facebook Page, both assets of that portfolio. Your brand must be based in a country where the Hub is available (it isn't offered in Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria or Russia).
  • Accounts that can run partnership ads: public content on Instagram professional accounts, or on Facebook Pages or profiles in professional mode. Meta gives no follower minimum for brands. Creators in Creator Marketplace must be at least 18, with a public professional Instagram account and at least 1,000 followers.
  • Access for your team. A portfolio admin grants it on desktop in Meta Business Suite: Settings, Add people, pick the Page, then turn on at least one permission toggle. Messaging creators or creating campaigns in the Hub needs extra permissions, such as Creator management.
  • An agency? Give it permissions on your Instagram account, Facebook Page and ad account. See how to give an agency access to your Meta ad account.
  • A written agreement with each creator. Meta says partnership ad permissions "don't set compensation or transfer ownership of content." Put the fee, how long you can run the ad and any exclusivity in your own contract.

Step 1: Open Creator Marketing Hub

In Meta Business Suite, click Creator marketing in the left menu. In Ads Manager, it's under All Tools > Advertise. The home screen shows partner content from the last 90 days, with flags on posts that need fixing before they can run as ads, and organic branded content Meta predicts may perform well as an ad.

Meta's help page says the Hub "may not be available to you yet" and that it's "only available for business and creator accounts on Instagram."

Step 2: Find creators your buyers already follow

In Creators, you get personalized creator recommendations and can track partnership requests and permissions. In Content, you can search by keyword, ad code, post ID or post URL, see which posts are ready to run as ads, and save posts to lists that show up in Ads Manager. Meta's September 15 announcement adds filters for creators and content that feature your products, including "known and predicted affiliate content," rolling out through the end of 2026.

For a B2B brand, start with people who already post about you. Partnership ads aren't only for influencers: Meta says you can run them with "creators, brands, and other businesses." That covers an integration partner, a customer's company account, a consultant who implements your product, or an industry voice.

Tools built on Meta's Creator Discovery API can filter by interest category (including business, finance and economics, and science and tech), country, follower count and language. Since June 11, 2026, the API can also find creators whose followers closely match a saved custom or lookalike audience, such as one built from your customer list. Meta's help pages don't say whether the Hub's own screens offer the same filters.

Meta's pages also differ on Facebook creators. The developer docs call the Hub the place to "discover and evaluate Instagram and Facebook creators," and the September 15 announcement says Facebook creators are joining the Creator Marketplace API. The Hub's help pages still say it's "only available for business and creator accounts on Instagram."

Step 3: Send a partnership request

Meta's steps for account-level permission:

  1. In Meta Business Suite, click Creator marketing.
  2. Under the Creators tab, click Manage permissions.
  3. Click Add partnership in the top right.
  4. Search for the partner's username, select their account, then click Next.
  5. Select the account you'll partner from, then click Done.
  6. Click Send request.

The partner accepts in the Hub, the Instagram app or the Facebook app. Until then, the request shows Request sent, and you can select the partner and click Notify to send it again.

There are two kinds of permission:

Account-levelContent-level
Who starts itUsually you, with a request from the Hub (a partner can also send you one to accept)The creator, by sharing an ad code or turning on Allow brand partner to boost
What you can runAds from their handle with new content, plus their posts, stories and reels that tag you, including archived onesOne specific post, story or reel
Their audienceYou can include or exclude the partner's custom audienceNot listed by Meta
Best forOngoing partnershipsA one-off promotion

Meta's pages use "account-level" and "profile-level" for the same permission. Some still say "Partnership Ads Hub": in June 2026, Meta said it was merging that tool and Creator Marketplace into Creator Marketing Hub. An ad code works for up to 2 advertisers at a time. A creator can switch the code off to stop new ads, but ads already running keep going. Creators can revoke any permission at any time.

Meta's announcement also brings content-level permissions and permission expiry dates into the Hub, rolling out through the end of 2026. Its help pages don't yet explain how to set one, so put the end date in your contract as well.

Step 4: Check the content can run as an ad

Meta's format rules for partnership ads:

  • Feed: single image, video, or carousel with up to 10 cards.
  • Stories: videos of 60 seconds or less (unless you create the story in Ads Manager), up to 5 supported stickers, no copyrighted music and no link stickers.
  • Reels: up to 15 minutes, no copyrighted music unless you hold the rights. Reels published before October 15, 2021 aren't eligible.
  • Tags: to boost a creator's Instagram content under account-level permission, they must tag you with the paid partnership label, an @mention, a people tag, a product tag or a Collab. Facebook content needs the paid partnership label. Archived Facebook content can't be boosted.

Meta says the Hub is adding "ad-readiness editing" to fix common blockers, such as removing copyrighted music or stickers, as part of the rollout through the end of 2026.

Step 5: Build the partnership ad

Meta's announcement describes one-click ad creation that takes you "from a creator partnership to a drafted Partnership Ad without switching tools." Until that reaches your account, build it in Ads Manager:

  1. Click + Create and choose an objective. For lead gen, choose Leads. Meta supports the website and instant form conversion locations for partnership ads, but not Messenger, Instagram or calls.
  2. Set the conversion location, budget, schedule and audience, then click Next.
  3. At the ad level, turn on the Partnership ad toggle.
  4. With an ad code, click Enter ad code or post info and paste the code, post ID or post URL. Without one, go to Identities, click Edit, choose the identities and click Save. Then pick Use existing post and Select post, or Create ad to upload new creative.
  5. Choose the header: both identities, the first identity only, or dynamic identity (the default, which Meta recommends), where Meta picks what it predicts will perform best. The first identity is always the account that authored the post.
  6. Click Publish. Meta reviews the ad and tells you when it's approved.

To reach the creator's own followers, use creator audience sharing. It needs account-level permission and only works when the ad runs from the creator's Instagram handle. In the ad set's Audience section, create a custom audience from the Instagram account source and pick the creator. You can also build a lookalike from it.

Step 6: Keep permissions and results in check

  • Meta's advice: confirm the permission is active before you create or publish an ad.
  • For B2B, compare partnership ads with your brand-only ads on qualified leads and pipeline, not just cost per lead.
  • Meta says partnership ads "are coming" to the Meta Ads MCP connector, so you'll be able to create them and manage creator permissions from an AI agent. It hasn't given a date beyond saying all the announced updates roll out through the end of 2026.

Common problems

ProblemWhy it happensFix
No Creator marketing item in Business SuiteYour portfolio isn't verified, the Instagram account and Page aren't assets in it, you lack access, or the Hub hasn't reached your accountVerify the portfolio, add both accounts to it, and ask an admin to grant Creator Marketplace access
You can't find the creator's post in Ads ManagerYou weren't tagged in a way that counts, or there's no active permissionUse the Select identity filter, or ask the creator for an ad code
An ad code won't workThe creator switched it off, 2 advertisers already use it, or the post isn't an eligible formatAsk for a new code, and check music, stickers and video length
A creator changed or revoked permissionCreators can do this at any timeReview affected ads before you run them again, and check your contract
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