Brand Partnerships

Transform creator-generated organic content into paid advertising while preserving authentic voice and engagement.

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Overview

User Story: "I want creators to post organic content tagging my brand. I then want to find that content and turn high-performing posts into ads."

Brand Partnerships enable an organic-to-paid workflow where creators post content featuring your brand, and you amplify the best-performing posts as paid advertisements. This approach leverages authentic creator content that has already proven engagement potential.

Before following this guide, you must establish a BRAND_LEVEL partnership with creators. See Partnership Setup for the complete invitation and approval process.

Workflow Summary

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Guidelines

Expand any section below for detailed specs. These are linked throughout the guide when relevant.

Post Types — Stories vs. Spotlight vs. Cross-Post

Post Type	Distribution	Audience	Duration
Stories	Shown primarily to followers	Subscribers/friends	3–180 seconds
Spotlight	Distributed on the 5th tab (Spotlight feed)	Mix of followers and non-followers	5 seconds – 2 minutes
Cross-Post	Posted to both Stories AND Spotlight	Both audiences	Must meet Spotlight requirements (5s–2min)

Creators can post the same video to both Stories and Spotlight simultaneously. This maximizes reach across both follower and discovery audiences.

Content Requirements — Duration, format, and music restrictions

Not all content can be boosted. Ensure creator content meets these specs:

Requirement	Spotlight	Stories
Aspect Ratio	9:16 (vertical)	9:16 (vertical)
Duration	5–60 seconds	3–180 seconds
Availability	Permanent	Expires after 24 hours unless saved
Music	No "Snap Library" music	No "Snap Library" music

Stories expire after 24 hours. Creators must save to Memories or Saved Stories before expiration for content to remain boostable. If a snap_id returns "Not Found," the creator likely didn't save it in time.

Permission Levels — What creators grant when they accept

When creators accept a partnership or tag a brand, they select a permission scope:

Permission	You Can See Posts?	You Can Boost?	You Get Insights?
Tag Only	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No
Tagging + Ad Creation (Share Snap)	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No
Tagging + Ad Creation + Insights (Share Snap + Insights)	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes

If a creator selects "Tag Only," you will see their posts in the dashboard but cannot boost them. Always brief creators to select "Tagging + Ad Creation" or higher.

Best Practices — Avoid common pitfalls

Practice	Why It Matters
Brief creators on permission selection	Prevents "Tag Only" issues that block boosting
Remind creators to save Stories	Prevents content loss after 24-hour expiration
Review content quickly	Trending content loses relevance over time
Communicate ad usage	Maintains creator trust and relationship
Verify content specs before claiming	Avoids API errors from ineligible content

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Implementation Tracks

Choose the track that matches how you'll be working:

• Marketing UI — Step-by-step walkthrough using Business Manager and Ads Manager. Best for marketers and campaign managers.
• Developer API — Code samples and endpoint references for programmatic integration. Best for engineers building automated workflows.

Switch between tracks using the tabs below — Choose Business Manager for manual workflows or Developer API for automated integrations.

Business Manager

Marketing Track

✅ Complete Partnership Setup — You must have an active BRAND_LEVEL partnership before proceeding

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Part I: Creator Posts Tagged Content

Once the partnership is active, the creator can tag your brand in their organic content.

How Creators Tag Your Brand

1. Creator creates a new Snap (Story or Spotlight)
2. Before posting, creator taps "More Options" or the link icon
3. Creator toggles "Add Paid Partnership"
4. Creator searches for and selects your brand
5. Creator posts the content

Ensure content meets the Content Requirements before boosting—especially duration limits and Story expiration.

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Part II: Boost the Content

Before boosting, review the Best Practices and Content Requirements to avoid common issues.

Step 1 - Find Tagged Content

1. Navigate to Business Manager → Creator Dashboard → Collaborations
2. Click the "Manage" tab
3. You'll see a list of all Snaps where creators have tagged your brand

Step 2 - Create the Ad

1. Find the content you want to boost
2. Click "Create Ad" next to the asset
3. You'll be taken to Ads Manager with the creative pre-loaded
4. Configure your campaign:
   • Set your objective
   • Define your target audience
   • Set budget and schedule
5. Review and launch

The ad will automatically display the "Paid Partnership with [Your Brand]" label for transparency.

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Alternative Flow - Creator-Initiated Tagging

In the flow above, the brand initiates by adding a creator to their Pre-Approved list. However, there's an alternative path where the creator initiates by tagging a brand they want to work with—without being pre-approved first.

Only Snap Stars or creators who have previously worked with a brand can initiate tagging without pre-approval.

Step 1 - Creator Prepares Content

The creator chooses a video or image to post on their Stories or Spotlight and decides to tag a brand they want to collaborate with.

Step 2 - Creator Searches for Brand

1. Creator taps "Add Paid Partnership"
2. Creator searches for the brand by typing the brand name
3. Creator selects the brand from search results

Step 3 - Creator Confirms Tagging Request

1. Once the creator finds the brand, they tap "Request"
2. A confirmation popup appears explaining that the brand will receive a notification to pre-approve them
3. Creator taps "Continue" to send the request

Step 4 - Creator Selects Permission Level

After confirming, the creator selects what permissions to grant the brand:

Option	What It Allows
Cancel	Cancels the tagging process
Tag Only	Tags the brand but does NOT allow boosting
Share Snap	Brand can use content for ads ✅
Share Snap and Insights	Brand can use content for ads AND see organic metrics ✅

If the creator selects "Tag Only," you will see the post but cannot boost it. See Permission Levels for the full breakdown.

Step 5 - Brand Approves or Rejects

1. Navigate to Business Manager → Creator Dashboard → Collaborations
2. You'll see a pending notification from the creator
3. Review the request and click Approve or Reject

Once approved, the creator's content appears in your Collaborations Manager and can be boosted following the same steps in Part II: Boost the Content.

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Developer Track

Developer Track

The Brand Partnership workflow orchestrates multiple APIs to convert organic creator content into paid ads. This guide focuses on when and why to call each endpoint—for full parameter details, see the linked API references.

✅ Complete Partnership Setup — You must have an active BRAND_LEVEL partnership before proceeding

APIs Used:

• Shared Snaps — Discover tagged content
• Claim Media — Convert organic content to ad assets
• Creatives — Create partnership ads

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Step 1: Discover Tagged Content

Once the partnership is active, listen for organic posts where the creator tagged your brand using the "Paid Partnership" label.

What to do:

1. Call Retrieve Collaboration Snaps to poll for tagged posts
2. Response includes snap_id, metadata, and creator info for each tagged post
3. Filter by story_type (e.g., SAVED_STORY) and sponsor_status to identify eligible content

Only posts using the "Paid Partnership" label tool appear here. Simple @mentions in text overlays are not detected.

API Reference: Retrieve Collaboration Snaps

Converting URLs to Snap IDs

If a creator sends you a Snapchat URL instead of a snap_id, extract the ID first:

GET /v1/tools/extract_snap_id?short_url_code=iR7tFNNh

API Reference: Extract Snap ID

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Step 2: Claim the Content

Convert the organic Snap into an ad-ready media asset in your Ad Account's library.

What to do:

1. Call POST /v1/adaccounts/{ad_account_id}/claim_media_by_snap_reference with the snap_id
2. Response returns a media_entity_id with media_status: "PENDING_UPLOAD"
3. Poll GET /v1/media/{media_entity_id} until status is READY (typically 1-5 minutes)

If media isn't READY after 60 minutes, treat as failed and retry or investigate.

API Reference: Claim Media by Snap ID

Combining Multi-Snap Stories

Stories longer than 10 seconds span multiple Snaps. Combine them into a single video:

POST /v1/adaccounts/{ad_account_id}/combine_snaps?tagged_profile_id={profile_id}&snap_ids={snap_id}

API Reference: Combine Snaps

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Step 3: Create the Ad

With your media_entity_id ready, create a partnership ad that displays the "Paid Partnership with [Brand]" label.

What to do:

1. Call POST /v1/adaccounts/{ad_account_id}/creatives
2. Set creator_partnership_type: "BRAND_PARTNERSHIP" ← Required for disclosure
3. Include profile_properties (your brand) and optionally creator_profile_properties (the creator)

You must set creator_partnership_type to BRAND_PARTNERSHIP. Omitting this creates a generic ad without the partnership label, which may violate disclosure regulations.

API Reference: Create Partnership Ad Creative

If claim_media returns "Not Found," the Story likely expired before the creator saved it.

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Metrics & Reporting

Brand Partnership ads provide blended metrics combining organic and paid performance:

Metric	Description
impressions	Total impressions (organic + paid)
paid_impressions	Paid-only impressions
Organic Impressions	Calculated as impressions - paid_impressions
shares	Often higher on collaborative ads—include in reports
saves	User saves of the content

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Next Steps

• Ad Partnerships — Run ads directly as a creator's profile
• Ad Codes — Quick boosting without formal partnership setup
• Technical Reference — Detailed schemas and validation rules
• Troubleshooting — Common errors and solutions