How to Whitelist Influencers on Social Media

Influencer marketing and its place in the marketing mix has evolved tremendously over the past few years. With social media's organic reach on the decline, strategies that once revolved around organic posting have transformed as marketers explore new ways to get their influencer content in front of larger audiences.

One way to reach these larger audiences is with influencer whitelisting. Whitelisting is also known as gaining advertiser access which allows influencers to grant advertising permissions to their social media accounts with brand partners. In turn, this allows brands to use the influencers Facebook and Instagram channels to run paid media through their handle(s).

Whitelisting also allows brands to access influencer audiences to create custom and lookalike audiences and target the whitelisted content in front of specific users likely to take action.

Why is Influencer Whitelisting Important?

While likes and comments on influencer content are great for organic engagement and brand awareness, those metrics do not ultimately convert to sales.

Brands that do not adapt their influencer strategies are missing out on new customers for their business while also paying for content that almost no one sees.

The savviest advertisers know that investing in delivering influencer storytelling (e.g. creative) through targeted social media distribution unlocks a channel that expands the reach of influencer content.

By running instagram ads through influencer handles, advertisers are more likely to increase their influencer ROI as compared to those who rely solely on social media algorithms for organic reach and results.

inline_cta--business=Schedule a demo to learn more about how you can automate whitelisting.

How do I whitelist influencers on Facebook and Instagram? 

The Branded Content Tool is considered as whitelisting by some but does not allow any edits or optimizations. The manual way to gain Facebook and Instagram whitelisting access is through Facebook Business Manager.

Once whitelisting permissions are shared, influencer Facebook Page and Instagram account identities are available to advertisers directly in the brand’s Facebook’s Ads Manager, where advertisers can then create influencer ads, also known as influencer ads or dark posts across placements - Facebook feed, Instagram stories, Instagram feed posts or carousels and slideshows. 

The Business Manager whitelisting approach, known as manual whitelisting, requires one-on-one attention with influencers and multiple check-ins, so it can easily become a time-suck. Additionally, influencers that are not familiar with the process will require extra communication and detailed explanations from their brand partners.

It is worth understanding the risks and benefits of whitelisting for creators when reaching out to influencers and asking for them to grant access to what is a big part of their livelihood.

Below are the steps for manually gaining whitelisting access to your influencer’s Facebook Page and Instagram account. 

How to set up an Influencer’s Business Manager for Whitelisting access:

1. The influencer creates a Facebook Business Manager by going to www.business.facebook.com and logging into their Facebook profile 

2. Create a business name and enter the user name and business email

3. Enter Business Information and press “Submit”

4. Accept the confirmation email sent to the Business Manager’s associated email from Step 2 to complete the Business Manager setup.

Next, the influencer will need to connect their Facebook and Instagram accounts to the Business Manager.

5. Select Business Settings from the top right corner of the screen 

6. Select “Pages” and then “+Add”. If the influencer has a Facebook Page, select “Add Page”, if not, select “Create a New Page”

7. Assuming there is an existing page, enter the Facebook Page name or URL to be claimed by the Business Manager and click “Add Page”. Note: the influencer will need to have admin access to the Page they are claiming. If they do not have admin access, someone with admin access will need to grant the Business Manager permission to claim the page.

8. Next, Select “Instagram accounts” and then “Add+”; Log into Instagram 

Once the influencer’s Business Manager is set up and the accounts are claimed, they’ll need to assign your brand “partner access” to the Instagram and Facebook accounts:

1. Select “Pages” from the left-hand menu
2. Select “Assign Partners” and then either enter the Advertiser’s Business Manager ID or create a link to request partner access. Note: the Business ID will need to be shared with the influencer before they are able to give whitelisting access to their Facebook Page. Alternatively, they can email the share link by clicking “Get Link to Share”. From there, you’ll need to accept the invite.

3. Select the level of partner access to give. Note: the highest level needed to whitelist the accounts “Create Ads”

4. Select “Instagram accounts” from the left side of the page, then select “Add Partners”, then enter the advertiser’s Business Manager ID. Note: the Business ID will need to be shared to the influencer before they are able to give whitelisting access to their Instagram account.

Once your influencers complete the setup, their Facebook Page and Instagram accounts will populate in your brand’s Business Manager.
‍

Then,  you’ll need to assign the proper users access to the influencer channels to create Facebook and Instagram dark posts from the whitelisted content.

It’s important to note that the steps above will likely differ from influencer to influencer. Working with a variety of influencers- nano, micro, macro or celebrity- will often mean that each person is in a different stage of the Business Manager creation process. 

Sounds like a lot of work, right? If scaling your influencer whitelisting efforts is important, consider automating the process with a tool such as Lumanu.

Lumanu fully automates the usage rights and permissions process so that brands can easily send whitelisting permission requests that influencers can accept in one click. Lumanu’s automated whitelisting was designed to give creators peace of mind and security while granting brands the power to deliver results. To learn more about whitelisting, request a demo!