Paid Partnership on Instagram: How to Add the Label and When You Must (2026)

The paid partnership label on Instagram is the built-in way to show that a post, Reel or Story was made with a brand, and you need some form of disclosure whenever a brand pays you or gives you something for it. This guide shows how to add a paid partnership on Instagram in each format, why the option sometimes does not appear, and when a disclosure is legally required in the US and in Germany.

One note first: this post summarises official sources and is not legal advice. If you have a specific contract or a regulator's letter in front of you, talk to a lawyer.

What the paid partnership label does

The label puts "Paid partnership with" and the brand's name above your post. Your followers see the commercial relationship, and the brand gets access to the post's insights.

Do not confuse it with a Collab post. An Instagram Collab post shares one post across two profiles and pools the likes and comments. It says nothing about whether money changed hands. For sponsored content you need the label, not a Collab post.

Requirements: why the paid partnership option is missing

According to the Instagram Help Center, the label only works under these conditions:

• Professional account: only Business and Creator accounts see the option. What an Instagram Creator account gives you, and what you give up, is covered in our own guide.
• Branded content tools enabled: in settings, under the business or creator tools, open Branded content and set up the tools. If you are not eligible, you can request a review.
• Meta eligibility: Meta requires an authentic, established presence on the platform and compliance with its branded content policies.
• Brand with a professional account: a brand only appears in the partner search if it has a Business or Creator account itself.

How to add the paid partnership label to a post, Reel and Story

Menu names change with app updates. The steps below follow the Instagram Help Center; if a label reads differently on your phone, look for "partnership" in the advanced settings.

Feed post and Reel:

• 1.Create the post or Reel up to the last screen before sharing.
• 2.Open Advanced settings.
• 3.Under Branded content, switch on the paid partnership label.
• 4.Tap Add brand partners and pick up to two brands.
• 5.Share the post.

Story:

• 1.Create the Story and open the editor.
• 2.Tap the tag or label icon at the top.
• 3.Switch on the label and add the brand.

The first time you tag a brand, it gets a request. Its name appears in the label once it approves; if it declines, Instagram removes the label. A post with two brand partners cannot be boosted.

When you must disclose: the US rules

The label is a technical feature. The legal duty to disclose comes from consumer protection rules. In the US, the FTC's guide Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers (2019) sets out what it expects:

• Disclose any financial, employment, personal or family relationship with a brand.
• Free or discounted products count. If a brand gives you a perk and you then mention its product, disclose it, even if you were not asked to post.
• Put the disclosure with the endorsement itself, where it is hard to miss. A note after "more" or inside a block of hashtags is easy to miss.
• On Stories, put the disclosure over the image and leave enough time to read it.
• Clear words work: "ad", "advertisement", "sponsored". Avoid vague terms such as "sp", "spon" or "collab", and a standalone "thanks" or "ambassador".
• Do not assume a platform's disclosure tool is good enough. Consider adding your own disclosure as well.

If you also post for a German audience

German rules are stricter about wording. The media regulators' guide (Leitfaden der Medienanstalten, June 2021) requires "Werbung" or "Anzeige" in clearly readable text at the start of a sponsored post and on every Story slide. It names "ad" and foreign-language phrases such as "sponsored by" or "PR sample" as not sufficient for German-language content. A product sent to you can count as compensation. Under § 5a(4) of the German Unfair Competition Act (UWG, since 2022), you are presumed to have received compensation unless you can credibly show you did not.

Common mistakes

• Relying on the label alone: the label is small and sits above the post. Add "ad" or "sponsored" at the start of the caption too.
• Disclosing at the end: a disclosure after "more" or buried among hashtags is easy to miss.
• Labelling only the first Story frame: every frame of a sponsored Story needs it.
• "It was just a gift": free products count as a material connection.
• Using a Collab post instead of the label: a Collab post is not a disclosure.

Next step: land the deal, then label it

Clean disclosure makes you look professional to brands and keeps you clear of regulators. Before a paid deal, brands check your engagement, so check yours first with the free engagement rate calculator. Once you have the deal, use Creator Deals to find the next brand that fits your account and pitch it in your own voice.

Final tip: save a caption template that opens with "Ad" and the brand's name. Then you will not forget it on the tenth Story either.