How to Partner with Social Media Platforms

A partnership is just another way in which you can gain trust between your business and your targeted audience, prompting future sales! 

Each platform has different requirements, but going through the process is guaranteed to only help your business in the long run.

Want to learn more about how to partner with social media platforms? Keep reading!

Facebook Partnership

Becoming a Facebook Partner opens up a number of different opportunities for your business. Some of the biggest perks of becoming a Facebook Partner includes:

1. Gaining more visibility on Facebook. More visibility means more potential clients and sales.
2. Receiving a verified badge. This gives your business a way to show off your partnership.
3. VIP access. As a verified partner, you will receive: exclusive tech support, access to partner-only events and programs, special training sessions, and more.

Sound like something your business would be interested in?

To qualify, you must meet Facebook’s basic, country, and specialty requirements. Let’s dive into what this means.

Basic Requirements:

Facebook’s basic partner requirements include “tangible” and “intangible” categories. 

• Tangible requirements to meet are:
  • Are you great at one of our specialties in at least one major country?
  • Do you have (and are willing to dedicate) the resources to stay current with fast-moving technology and policy changes?
  • Do you have a transparent business model?
  • Can you show a track record of client success?
• Intangible requirements are:
  • Do you bring something new to the program?
  • Are you aligned with Facebook’s vision and policies?
  • Do you have good relationships with your clients and Facebook?

Country Requirements:

Facebook’s country requirements ensures that your business is properly providing client support before they recommend you to the world. This support is measured by:

• The ability to provide in-language and in-time-zone support
• The quality of support based on client feedback

Specialty Requirements:

The specialty requirements category mandates that your business is an “expert” in one of Facebook’s 6 specialty categories, which are: 

#1 – Ad Technology

To become an expert in this, your business must be able to prove that you are providing real solutions to assist with Facebook Ads and campaign performance.  

See below for a checklist of the full requirements to determine if your business qualifies. If you believe that your business qualifies, apply for your badge here.

 #2 – Creative Platforms

With this category, your business should be utilizing Facebook’s platforms and mobile apps to create and curate Facebook ad creatives. To read more about the full requirements, click here.

See below for a checklist of the full requirements to determine if your business qualifies. If you believe that your business qualifies, apply for your badge here.

#3 – Small Business Solutions

This category is for potential partners who excel in utilizing Facebook’s Services and Technology resources through their marketing platforms.

There are 2 categories you could qualify for within this category – Full Service and Self-Service. To read more about the full requirements, click here.

Facebook is no longer accepting applications for this category at the moment, but keep an eye on this for future opportunities.

#4 – Offline Conversions

If you are a business who closely monitors activity – sales, transactions, and other events – that happens offline in order to best optimize your campaigns, this category is for you. To read more about the full requirements, click here. 

See below for a checklist of the full requirements to determine if your business qualifies. If you believe that your business qualifies, apply for your badge here. 

#5 – Measurement

Are you a pro at measuring and tracking your business’ ad results? This is your category! There is not a ton of explanation about this category from Facebook, as this category is invite only. However, they do state that some of the qualities they typically look for are:

• Operating your own proprietary measurement product for measuring either media execution or business results
• Demonstrating ability to measure media execution or business results across multiple media channels
• Demonstrating market leadership through examples of client success

#6 – Community Management

Calling all social butterflies! Are a master of reviewing, responding to, and managing conversations with your audience? Your business may qualify for this category. 

Currently, Facebook is not accepting any new applications for this. However, this may change in the future. According to Facebook, some of the traits they look for in this category are:

• Having your own proprietary technology (not provided through alliance or partnership) that enables the management of multiple Pages at scale: posting, moderating and measuring
• Providing insights to help marketers understand their Facebook Page activity
• Showing consistent track record of client success

Once you have determined if your business qualifies, all that is left to do is apply for the badge!

After going through the application process, Facebook will determine if you are qualified to become a partner or not. 

Instagram Partnership

You can also become a partner with Instagram, the highly popular social media network.

Because Instagram is owned by Facebook, becoming an Instagram Partner will benefit your business in the same way that it will when becoming a Facebook Partner.

When it comes to Instagram, they have the same basic and country requirements as Facebook does. 

However, there are only 3 categories your business can be “verified” under – Ad Tech, Community Management, and Creative Platforms.

These categories are basically the same as the ones mentioned above, but to review again:

To fit into the Ad Tech category, your business must make it easy to manage and buy ads on Instagram. More details can be found at this link. A full list of requirements can be found below.

To fit in the Community Management category, your business must manage all DMs and comments. You must also take advantage of the audience insights to see who your audience is.

Instagram is currently not accepting applications for this speciality. However, some things to look at to see if you meet the requirements when the time comes include:

• Having your own proprietary technology (not provided through alliance or partnership) that enables marketers to interact with, and understand the community better
• Providing insights that help marketers understand their Instagram activity beyond basic engagement metrics
• Showing consistent track record of client success on Instagram

To fit in the Creative Platforms category, your business must excel at creating and marketing great content. More details can be found at this link. A full list of requirements can be found below.

To apply for an Instagram partnership, again, only the categories of Ad Tech or Creative Platforms are currently accepting applications, click here.

Snapchat Partnership

The Snapchat Partnership program takes pride in collaborating with industry-leading companies. 

In order to qualify for the Snapchat Partners program, you must meet the requirements of a specific partner type. 

The Snapchat Partnership program partner types are set up like tiers ranging from non-partner, as the lowest tier, to a Licensed Ads Partners as the highest tier.

Below is a quick snapshot of what you receive from Snapchat per partner type.

To review each partner type from lowest tier to highest tier:

Certified Partners 

This tier of partnership provides in-house talent to assist in managing campaigns through Snapchat on behalf of marketers.

The criteria Snapchat looks for includes: 

• Demonstrating knowledge of Snapchat advertising through the successful completion of individual team member training and assessments through Snapchat Explore: minimum requirement of 1 current employees
• Demonstrating campaign expertise by meeting actively managed spend requirements per quarter
• Undergoing recurring educational training to understand the most up-to-date Snapchat advertising capabilities, best practices, and campaign strategies
• A track record of client retention
• Proven client success through case studies and client feedback

Certified Experts 

Certified Experts are considered the best at providing guidance to other users and delivering advertiser outcomes.

The criteria Snapchat looks for includes:

• Demonstrating knowledge of Snapchat advertising through the successful completion of individual team member training and assessments through Snapchat Explore: minimum requirement of 10 current employees
• Maintaining “Certified Partner” qualification for two consecutive full quarters
• Demonstrating campaign expertise by meeting actively managed spend requirements per quarter
• Undergoing recurring educational training to understand the most up-to-date Snapchat advertising capabilities, best practices, and campaign strategies
• A track record of consistent growth in advertiser count and spend
• A minimum of one (1) published Snapchat specific case study
• Proven client success through case studies, performance audits, and client feedback

Licensed Ads Partners

This group of Snapchat Partners develops the Snapchat technology that marketers use. This technology helps with ad buying and improves overall workflow.

The criteria Snapchat looks for includes:

• Complete development of self-service technology using the Snapchat Marketing API
• Successfully pass a product audit from Snapchat’s Solutions Engineering Team
• Remain in good standing on an ongoing basis
• Develop support for new features and API changes upon availability
• Maintaining a Snap approved customer SLA
• Clients directly manage campaigns using your proprietary technology
• Meeting specific spend requirements per quarter
• History of consistent advertiser usage across product types
• Growth in advertiser count and usage over the past quarter
• Proven client success through case studies, performance audits, and client feedback

There are also 2 additional Snapchat partner categories – Audience Match Partners and Lens Creative Partners.

Audience Match Partners use their skills to build and manage audiences on Snapchat.

Lens Creative Partners help to develop new lens on Snapchat with Snapchat’s Lens Studio.

If you believe your business fits the criteria of any of these categories, you can apply to be apart of the Snapchat Partnership program here.

Pinterest Partnership

To become a certified Pinterest Partner, your business has to fit one of their 6 main categories (have you noticed a trend yet?).

The Pinterest partner categories are: 

1. Advertising. These partners are skilled in campaign management, media buying and media strategy.
2. Shopping. Shopping Partners help you enable and optimize the ability for your audience to shop for your products on Pinterest.
3. Content Marketing. This category of marketers help with your overall content marketing strategy – both organic and paid.
4. Creative. Businesses in this Pinterest partner category help you make appealing content.
5. Audiences. These partners help you keep track of your Pinterest data in order to better target your customers.
6. Measurement. Measurement partners are all about campaign tracking, measuring and reporting.

If you feel that your business would excel in one of these categories, you can contact Pinterest to apply to become a Pinterest Partner.

Twitter Partnership 

In 2015, Twitter launched their official partner program.

Those selected to be Twitter partners are businesses who are selected by Twitter to help other brands make the most of the platform.

The Twitter partnerships are broken down into 2 major categories: those who specialize in Ads and those who specialize in Data.

The Partners in the Ad category help brands and businesses with, you guessed it, different aspects of Twitter Ads.

Within the Ads category, the services include:

• Measurement – Excellence in tracking interactions and sales with Twitter Ads.
• Campaign Management – Assistance in managing Twitter Ad campaigns from budgeting to optimization.
• Creative Management – This category excels in the creative aspect of Twitter Ads – images, videos, and more.
• Target Management – Businesses in this category specialize in assisting brands and businesses with Ad targeting needs.

Within the Data category, the services include:

• Monitoring Social Trends – These partners help to track all trends on the platforms that could impact your business.
• Listening to Consumer Insights – This category will assist businesses and brands in better understanding their audience.
• Measuring Social Efforts – Do you want to know how effective your Twitter actions and Ads are? Partners in this category can help.
• Managing Customer Care – These partners will assist businesses and brands in interacting with their customers.
• Managing My Social Presence – This category of partner will help manage all aspects of your brand’s Twitter Campaigns.

On Twitter’s Partner page, there is a way to easily look for a Twitter partner if you do not have the knowledge to apply to become one.

To apply to become an official Twitter Partner, contact them.

 

LinkedIn Partnership 

The last social media platform we will be discussing is LinkedIn.

A LinkedIn Partnership will enable your business to:

1. Gain more visibility
2. Get more credibility
3. Gain access to exclusive customer support solutions 

There are 6 major categories that your business could fall under to be deemed an official LinkedIn Partner. The categories are:

• Ad Technology. The businesses in this category are masters in all aspects of Linkedin Ads.
• Media Buying. If you are a pro at finding media placements for your clients in order to achieve campaign goals, this category is for you.
• Marketing Analytics. This type of partner analyzes your marketing performance to improve marketing tactics in the future.
• Audience Management. Partners in this category will help your brand and business better reach your target audience.
• Content Marketing. Content is still king (especially on Linkedin). If you are a content King or Queen, share the wealth with other businesses and brands by becoming a partner in this category.
• Community Management. If you are great at managing your LinkedIn Community, you may qualify to become a partner in this category.

Becoming a LinkedIn partner will open the doors to several incentives for your business. 

And there you have it! Partnerships open up a realm of opportunities and perks to helping any business flourish.

Most importantly, they serve as a way to support and uplift a specific business they see as credible and amplifying its content and services to their user base.

This builds trust not only between the business and platform, but between the business and their perspective clients found through each respective site.

Apply for a verified partnership through any of the aforementioned sites can help benefit the credibility of your business while gaining you more clients. We definitely recommend giving it a shot!

I hope you learned more about how to partner with social media platforms in this marketing blog! Until next time!