Instagram began testing parent company Facebook’s Brand Collabs Manager branded content partnerships tool with roughly 40 creators in the U.S., partially as a response to reaction to its test of hiding like counts.
Facebook introduced Brand Collabs Manager in June 2018 to help match up advertisers and creators for branded content partnerships.
Instagram said the creators in the test group are using Brand Collabs Manager to share their content, details about their audiences and first-party insights with potential relevant partners.
Brands usually have access only to campaign engagement and reach data, but through this test, they can also get information such as breakdowns across age and gender for impressions and reach, as well as side-by-side comparisons of the performance of the same content as an organic branded post and a branded content ad.
Instagram said in an email, “We recognize that like counts are an important metric for creators, and we are actively working to give professional accounts the flexibility to share relevant engagement metrics, including like counts, with their business partners through new account settings. We’re continuing to test private like counts in feed for all Instagram accounts in order to ensure that this change can benefit the community at large. We’re excited to share more soon.”
Markian Benhamou (@MarkianB), one of the creators involved in the test, added, “I love the concept of Brand Collabs Manager, which facilitates partnerships between creators and brands. Having all of my insights in one place will reduce the repetitive process of insights sharing that often comes with brand partnerships, and I love anything that supports creators and their online business.”
And Sephora vice president of content strategy Emmy Berlind said in an email, “Our work with creators on Instagram is a crucial aspect of our marketing efforts, so Instagram’s integration with Facebook’s Brand Collabs Manager is a huge win. Having enhanced capabilities to connect with relevant and relatable partners who share our values will help make these platforms an even more powerful tool for our business.”
Instagram added that it plans to update its branded content policies to add clarity to rules about promoting restricted goods and services—such as alcohol, tobacco, weapons and health supplements—bringing them in line with its overall ad policies.
