Key takeaways
- Brands use Instagram's creator marketplace through the Creator Marketing Hub in Meta Business Suite.
- Meta requires a supported country, a verified business portfolio and a linked Instagram account and Facebook page.
- You can search by keyword, filter by interests, age and follower count, save lists and message creators.
- Meta's pages do not describe contracts or escrow, and the hub does not cover other platforms.
- Jem Social lets you post a creator brief free and have creators apply to you.
Last updated: November 2026
The Instagram creator marketplace is Meta's built-in tool for brands to find creators and message them about branded content and partnership ads. Brands reach it through the Creator Marketing Hub in Meta Business Suite, once they meet Meta's eligibility rules. It helps you discover Instagram creators, but it does not cover other platforms, and Meta's pages do not describe contracts or creator payments.
This guide is for brands and marketers who want to know how the Instagram creator marketplace works, what you need to get in, and when a second channel makes sense. Every Meta fact below comes from Meta's own pages, checked in November 2026.
What the Instagram creator marketplace is
Meta calls the brand-side tool the Meta Creator Marketing Hub. According to Meta's Instagram Help Center, it sits inside Meta Business Suite and Ads Manager. It helps brands discover and evaluate creators for branded content and partnership ads, and find creator content to boost into partnership ads.
Creators opt in separately. Meta says that creators who have joined the creator marketplace expose more detailed insights to brands, so a creator's profile can look richer if they joined.
- Discovery: personalized creator recommendations plus search and filters.
- Outreach: messages to creators from inside Meta Business Suite.
- Campaigns: a place to create and manage creator campaigns and track invites.
- Ads: tools to manage partnership ads permissions and check content eligibility.
Who can use it: Meta's eligibility rules
Not every brand can get in. Meta's eligibility page lists three requirements as of November 2026:
- Your brand must be based in a country where Creator Marketing Hub is available.
- You must have a verified business portfolio.
- You must have an Instagram account linked to a Facebook page that meets Meta's requirements for partnership ads and branded content. Both must be business assets of the verified business portfolio.
Meta also states the hub is not available in Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria or Russia. Business verification takes admin work, so start it before you plan a campaign around the hub.
How you join
Meta's pages describe two routes. The Help Center says that if your brand is eligible, you open Creator marketing in Meta Business Suite, click Get started and agree to the terms. Meta's join page says that to join the creator marketplace you should contact your account representative. If you do not see the option in your account, Meta notes the feature may not be available to you yet.
Who needs permissions
An admin of the business portfolio must grant users access. To send prioritized partnership messages, a person needs Messages and Calls permissions or Creator management permissions. To create campaigns, they need Creator management permissions. Meta says you must be on desktop to set these.
How to find creators inside the hub
Meta's guide to finding creators describes the flow. Open the Discover creators tab and you see recommendations personalized to your brand.
- Search by keyword. Meta says its AI-powered keyword search suggests keywords tailored to your brand using context from your profile and content.
- Filter. You can filter by interests, age and follower count. Filters apply to creators and to their target audiences.
- Open the creator card. The full profile shows past and active partnership ads, branded content, past partners and metrics.
- Save to a list. Use the bookmark icon to build a list for a campaign or product launch. You can also upload a .csv of creator handles to see similar creators.
Before you shortlist anyone, check engagement yourself with the free engagement rate calculator. Follower count alone tells you little about whether an audience responds.
How to contact creators and run a campaign
Each creator card has a Contact button. Meta says you can copy the creator's email, if available, or send a message that introduces your brand and the partnership you want. Conversations live in your Inbox in Meta Business Suite under Partnership messages.
The hub also lets you create and manage campaigns. Its home screen shows partner content from the last 90 days, with flags on anything that needs attention before you run it as a partnership ad, plus recommended organic content that Meta predicts may perform well as an ad.
Write your offer before you hit send. A clear brief gets faster replies. Jem's campaign brief generator gives you a structure to start from, and you can price your offer against the influencer rate calculator.
How to choose between the creators on your list
A shortlist is not a decision. Before you message anyone, run each creator through the same short check.
- Content fit. Scroll their recent posts. Do they already make the kind of video or photo you need, in a style your customers watch?
- Audience fit. Look at the audience details Meta shows on the profile, and compare them with your buyer.
- Past partners. The profile lists past partners. Check whether they already promote direct competitors.
- Engagement. Compare likes and comments with reach, not just followers.
- Price. Ask for a rate card and compare it with your budget before you invest more time.
Start with a small test. Book two or three creators, give each the same brief, and compare results before you scale. That also protects your budget if the first pick underperforms.
Partnership ads and content rights
The hub is built around partnership ads, which let a brand run ads using a creator's content and handle. Meta's hub shows permission status and content eligibility, and it flags errors that block ad creation. Agree on usage rights in writing before the creator posts. Decide how long you can run the content as an ad and whether you can edit it.
Also plan for disclosure. If you pay or gift creators, they must disclose the relationship clearly. The FTC explains what that looks like in Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers. Put the requirement in your brief.
What the hub does not do
Know the limits so you can fill them. Based on Meta's own descriptions, the hub is about discovery, outreach, campaigns and partnership ads on Meta's apps. Meta's pages do not describe the following, so plan for them separately:
- Other platforms. It covers Meta's apps. If you need TikTok or YouTube creators, you need another route. See our guide to the TikTok Creator Marketplace.
- Contracts and escrow. Meta's pages describe messaging and campaign tracking, not a contract or escrow step. You handle terms and payment on your own.
- Applications from creators to your brief. You search and reach out. You are not posting an open brief for creators to apply to.
Where Jem fits next to the Instagram creator marketplace
Jem Social is a separate creator marketplace, not a replacement for Meta's hub. You can use Instagram's tool for Instagram-native discovery, and Jem to cover UGC creators and influencers across platforms.
- Post a brief free. Brand accounts are free and need no card. Tell Jem one line about your product, Jem's AI writes the brief in about 4 minutes, and creators apply. You see everyone who applied in one place.
- Search and book. The paid plan lets you search 30M+ creators, send contracts and pay through escrow. There is a 7-day free trial. See Jem pricing for the current plan.
- A real result. Triller spent $1,500 across 40 nano and micro creators booked through Jem Social and tracked more than 10,000 conversions at about $0.15 each (source).
The honest tradeoff: if you only want Instagram creators and you already pass Meta's eligibility checks, the hub may be all you need. If you want applicants to come to you, want other platforms, or want contracts and payments in one place, add Jem. You can also read how influencer marketplaces work in general, and how to find UGC creators.
Post your first brief this week
Pick one product, one goal and one budget. Check your Meta eligibility if you want the hub, and in parallel put your offer in front of creators who can say yes today. Posting a brief takes minutes and costs nothing: post your free creator brief on Jem Social and compare every creator who applies.