What the Paid partnership label is
The Paid partnership label is the line reading Paid partnership with a brand name, shown above a creator's Instagram or Facebook post when the creator has received payment or other value from that brand. The creator adds it through Meta's branded content tools and tags the brand partner. It discloses the commercial relationship and shares the post's performance data with the brand.
The label is a disclosure tool, not an ad format. It is easy to mix up with partnership ads, where the brand puts media spend behind a creator post from its own ad account. A post can carry the label and never be promoted; a partnership ad builds on the same tagged relationship once spend is added.
How it works for brands
Depending on the brand's settings in Meta, the creator may need the brand's approval before they can tag it. Once the post is live with the label, the brand can see its reach and engagement in its own account, and with the creator's permission can promote it as an ad.
Whether the label alone satisfies disclosure rules is a separate question. The FTC's guidance tells creators not to assume a platform's built-in tool is enough, so many brands also require #ad in the caption or a spoken mention in the video. The FTC disclosure entry covers what that needs to look like.
A worked example
A sneaker brand pays a creator for one Reel. The contract requires the Paid partnership label tagging the brand, plus #ad as the first word of the caption. The creator posts, the label appears, and the brand's social team reads the Reel's insights inside its own account without chasing screenshots.
A fortnight on, that Reel is outperforming the brand's own content, so the brand asks for permission to promote it. Because the partnership tag is already in place, the media buyer can select the post in Ads Manager and run it as a partnership ad.
Common mistakes
Leaving the label out of the contract. Creators sometimes skip it to keep a post looking organic, which leaves the brand without data and exposed on disclosure. Name it as a deliverable alongside the other posting terms; the UGC contract guide shows where those sit.
Expecting it on UGC that never appears on the creator's account is a category error. If the creator only delivers files and the brand posts them, there is no creator post to label, and disclosure depends on how the brand presents the content.
How it's used
Reminder in the brief: Paid partnership label tagging our handle, plus #ad in the first line. No label, no payment.
Can you approve her as a branded content partner? She can't tag us until we do.