A Snapchat paid partnership is a public Snap carrying Snap's Paid Partnership label, which you switch on from the Send To screen before posting to a Public Story, Spotlight or Snap Map. Snap's Commercial Content Policy requires the label on content you were paid, gifted or lent something to post, and on promotion of your own products or business. Snap also ties disclosure to reach: commercial content that is not properly disclosed is not eligible for recommendation.
This guide covers Snapchat's tool and policies. What the law requires on top of them is covered in our guides to FTC influencer disclosure rules for the US and influencer disclosure rules in Australia.
How to add the label
Snapchat Support's Paid Partnership article gives the steps for anyone with a Public Profile.
- On the Send To screen, select a public-facing destination: Public Story, Spotlight or Snap Map.
- Tap the three-dot menu.
- Tap Add Paid Partnership; the first time, tap Continue to reach the Add Paid Partnership page.
- Toggle Paid Partnership on, then post.
Snap Stars can go a step further and tag the brand: in the Send To flow you search for a new or existing brand partner, and the partnership request goes to the brand after the Snap is published. Snap's Business Help article on tagging says creators who are not Snap Stars can tag a brand once it pre-approves them, and that only creators who have previously worked with a brand can tag it without pre-approval. Verification is covered in how to get Snap Star on Snapchat.
What happens next depends on the brand, according to Snap's brand approval article. If the brand approves, the label updates to read Paid Partnership with the brand's display name and links to its Public Profile; approval is automatic for creators the brand pre-approved. If the brand declines, the Snap stays live and keeps the Paid Partnership label, just without a brand name. Either way, your disclosure stands.
When the policy says you need it
The policy, effective 2 July 2026, covers content other than ads Snap serves that is sponsored by, promotes or advertises any brand, product or service, your own included, and content you were incentivised to post with money or free gifts. It illustrates the rule with a creator who makes roller-skating videos; the table generalises those examples, and the last row is our reading rather than Snap's wording.
| Situation | Label needed? | Why, in the policy's terms |
|---|---|---|
| A brand pays you to mention or feature it in a Snap | Yes | You are being paid to promote |
| A brand sends a free product and asks you to review it if you like it | Yes | You received something of value in exchange for promotion |
| A brand lends you a product for a video, provided you mention the brand or show its logo | Yes | The loan is the incentive, even though the product goes back |
| You bought the product yourself and review it alongside rival brands | No | No brand is paying you in any way |
| You make and sell the product, or promote your own business | Yes | You are incentivised to endorse it |
| You earn commission through an affiliate link or discount code | Yes, on our reading | Commission is a money incentive tied to the post, which the policy's scope covers |
The toggle is only part of the duty. The policy says disclosures, disclaimers and warnings must be clear and conspicuous; that commercial content must identify its commercial nature and the brand being promoted; and that where required, retouched commercial content needs a disclaimer or watermark saying so. Naming the brand inside the Snap is the simplest way to meet the identify-the-brand part, whether or not you tag it.
Label every Snap, not just the first
Stories are sequences, and the policy deals with that directly: if you post 6 Snaps of commercial content and only the first discloses it, only the first is eligible for amplification beyond your Public Profile. Disclosures must also be visible and appropriate wherever the content can appear, including the For You section, Spotlight and the Map.
So label each Snap in a sponsored run, and repeat a spoken or on-screen mention on later Snaps for people who join halfway. Snap's recommendation guidelines say commercial content is eligible for recommendation only when properly disclosed, and that Snap requires its paid partnership tool and profile-level age and location targeting tools where they apply.
What tagging shares with the brand
The label is a disclosure; the brand tag is also a data and media permission, and Snap's two help centres describe it differently. Snapchat Support says that once a paid partnership is approved, performance data for the content is shared with the brand and the content becomes available for the brand to boost. The brand approval article is narrower on data: the brand gets the Snap's performance data and analytics if you approved the Share Insights option under Advanced Settings, and it can use the media as an ad from its Media Library. Check Advanced Settings yourself before posting rather than relying on either summary.
Brands can also invite you as a Pre-Approved Creator. Snapchat Support's permissions article describes two roles: a Brand Partner can use the paid partnership tag with that brand, while an Ad Partner lets the brand use your profile in its ads, including Sponsored Snaps that display both your name and the brand's. You accept under Public Profile, Settings, Pending Invitations, and you can remove yourself from either role at any time in Profile Manager settings.
One more detail from Snap's business guidance: pre-approved creators can post to the brand's own Public Profile, and brands are told to warn creators not to unless instructed. When a brand profile appears among your posting options, check the destination twice. Because tagging can hand over boosting and ad rights, price it like usage; our guides to content usage rights and influencer whitelisting explain how, and the TikTok paid partnership guide covers the equivalent setting there. The Insights brands can see beyond a single Snap are set out in our Snapchat Insights guide.
Prohibited and restricted category check
No label makes a banned category acceptable, so find the product in this table before agreeing a deal. It summarises the Commercial Content Policy, which also says commercial content must suit Snapchatters aged 13 and over, and that if a required age-targeting option is not available to you, you should not post the content.
| Category | Snap's rule for this content | What it means for the deal | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | Not directed at anyone under the legal drinking age where shown, using available targeting, with no excessive or irresponsible drinking | Only with the targeting in place and moderate, responsible scenes | Policy |
| Dating services | Not directed at under-18s; not overtly sexual; no transactional companionship or infidelity; not directed to Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Gaza and the West Bank, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia or the United Arab Emirates | Check where your audience lives before you say yes | Policy |
| Weight-loss products or services | Not directed at under-18s, with no false claims or inaccurate food, health or nutrition descriptions | Ask the brand to substantiate every claim in the brief | Policy |
| Gambling services | Not directed below the legal gambling age or to places where it is not permitted | Post only if the targeting the policy calls for is available to you | Policy |
| Complex financial products, including crypto wallets and trading platforms | Not directed below the applicable legal age or where not permitted | Treat as targeting-dependent and check local financial promotion rules | Policy |
| Pharmaceutical and healthcare, from prescription medicines to supplements and cosmetic procedures | Not directed below the applicable legal age or where not permitted | Treat as targeting-dependent; health claims need evidence | Policy |
| Political and advocacy content | Not permitted as commercial content, including election material and paid issue advocacy | Decline the deal | Policy |
| Adult content and adult entertainment | Prohibited, including sexual solicitation, nudity or partially obscured nudity, references to sex acts and dating that emphasises casual encounters | Decline; no label or targeting changes this | Policy |
| Deceptive offers | Prohibited, including counterfeits, false celebrity testimonials, payday or predatory loans, get-rich-quick offers and pyramid schemes | Decline, and treat the approach as a possible scam | Policy |
| Weapons, drugs and tobacco | Weapons and explosives, including fireworks and pepper spray, are prohibited, as are illegal drug use and smoking or vaping outside public-health messaging | Decline the deal | Policy |
| Dangerous activities | Encouraging harmful stunts, such as Snapping while driving, is prohibited | Rewrite the brief or decline | Policy |
Creators who also run adult subscription pages elsewhere should read the adult-content row closely: commercial content promoting that business falls within the adult-entertainment prohibition, whatever the label says.
Pre-post checklist for a sponsored Snap
- Name the incentive: payment, a gift, a loan, commission or your own business. If there is one, the label goes on.
- Check the product against the category table and decline anything prohibited.
- Confirm whether the category needs age or location targeting and whether you can apply it; if a required option is missing, do not post.
- Decide whether to tag the brand, and open Advanced Settings to choose whether Share Insights is on.
- Read any Pre-Approved Creator invitation for the role it grants: Brand Partner for tagging, Ad Partner for ads under your name.
- Name the brand inside the Snap and cut any claim you cannot back up, since the policy bans false or misleading content.
- Leave out Snapchat logos, Bitmoji artwork and imitations of the app's interface, which the policy restricts to what Snap's brand guidelines allow.
- If the Snap collects sign-ups or entries, say that you, not Snap, collect the data and link your privacy policy.
- Turn on Paid Partnership for every Snap in the sequence, then post.
- Afterwards, check the label shows and whether the brand name appears; a missing name means the brand has not approved, or has declined.
- Keep the brief, the agreement, proof of payment or the gift, and screenshots of each labelled Snap; our influencer contract template lists the clauses to settle before you film.
Limitations of this guide
This reflects Snap's Commercial Content Policy, its recommendation guidelines and its Support and Business Help articles as checked on 1 October 2026. The two help centres describe tagging and data sharing slightly differently, as noted above, and the in-app wording can change. The policy also makes you responsible for meeting the law where your content runs, so a correctly labelled Snap can still fall short of local advertising rules; it encourages French creators, for example, to obtain the ARPP Responsible Influencer Certificate. The category summaries are a starting point, not a substitute for the full policy or for advice from a lawyer who handles advertising law.