---
title: Partnership (whitelisted) ads and choosing creators who convert
slug: partnership-ads-and-creator-selection
summary: Why partnership/whitelisted ads are S-tier on Meta post-Andromeda (persona reach, net-new audiences, 30–50% of spend), how to pick creators (aspirational over look-alike, big vs micro by category — Jones Road vs Caraway), the lo-fi-statics add-on, and Caraway's native partnership-ad formats.
domain: marketing
tags: [ad-creative, partnership-ads, whitelisting, creators, influencers, meta-ads]
related: [ugc-ad-formula-and-formats, ugc-engine-personas-and-creator-deals, creative-account-diagnosis, meta-ad-format-tier-list, founder-ads, boosting-organic-winners-spark-and-partnership-ads]
sources: [yt:KmbEjy0UBT8, yt:4wM-i1cxtAM, yt:t-Xf12o4jt4, yt:FcI1R-oz-EI, yt:76KH-GZZ5w4, yt:yNTlVKvuX0o]
updated: 2026-10-24
---

# Partnership ads and choosing creators

## TL;DR
- Dara Denney: partnership ads are "making or breaking brands on Meta" — without them you bring "a butter knife to a gunfight". Target **30–50% of spend**.[^1][^2]
- Why: Andromeda is **persona-based**; creators already reach your personas, and the seed audience starts from the creator's own followers — key when monthly reach declines at multi-million spend.[^3]
- You can run partnership ads **for free** via founder accounts and your own publications.[^4]
- Pick creators your persona **aspires to**, not clones; creator profile ≠ customer demographic 1:1.[^5]
- Tushy: Meta is balancing AI with human connection and will **reward real-creator content in the auction**.[^6]

## Details
**Big vs small creators depends on category.**[^7][^8]
- *Jones Road Beauty* (hyper-competitive beauty): partnership ads moved when they invested in **bigger, celebrity-tier** influencers (per Cody Plofker on Dara's podcast).
- *Caraway* (higher AOV): **micro/niche creators ~50k followers** do best — they need the right kitchen and aesthetic, not celebrity.
- Modash survey: partnership ads with smaller, niche creators are among the best performance levers on Meta.
- Caraway's Janae Lavander pays mostly mid-tier ($500–3,000) rather than $10k+ to maximise usable content volume.[^9]

**Test before you whitelist.** Ideally test a creator's content before running it as a partnership ad.[^1]

**Add-on: creator lo-fi statics.** When contracting partnership ads, also commission a few lo-fi statics "how they'd do stories for the brand" — Dara's #1 partnership tip; it builds a mini-funnel per creator.[^10]

**Native partnership formats (Caraway, from the creator's handle):** strong creator photo + caption in native style; **Q&A** ("Isn't cast iron hard to use?" → "Not if you do this") aimed at a primary objection; "any holy-grail products?"; story and poll formats; layer the offer in ("…and it's 20% off for Black Friday").[^11][^12]

**Whitelisting at agencies.** Savannah Sanchez gets clients access to creators' pages so ads run from both brand and creator handles — "even better in 2026".[^13]

**Hooks that work for partnership/creator ads:** in-action, emotional cliffhanger, "why did no one tell me", "if you…" — see [[verbal-hook-templates]].[^4]

## Disagreements / caveats
- Celebrities: S-tier lever for Jones Road, but Dara ranks celebrity ads C and calls them a potential money pit.[^14]
- Micro creators: Dara (2025) predicts micro creators beat mass reach; follower count "does not matter".[^15]
- Andromeda framing differs: Dara calls it persona-based; Sarah Levinger calls it interest-based and hungry for hyper-specific content ([[customer-research-for-ads]]).

## See also
- [[ugc-engine-personas-and-creator-deals]] — deal structures and sourcing
- [[ugc-creator-recruiting-and-pay]] — app UGC creator pay (organic)

[^1]: yt:KmbEjy0UBT8 @ 13:52 — Dara Denney
[^2]: yt:4wM-i1cxtAM @ 00:00 — Dara Denney
[^3]: yt:KmbEjy0UBT8 @ 14:50 — Dara Denney
[^4]: yt:t-Xf12o4jt4 @ 08:31 — Dara Denney
[^5]: yt:4wM-i1cxtAM @ 07:02 — Dara Denney
[^6]: yt:FcI1R-oz-EI @ 04:36 — Jarelle (Tushy)
[^7]: yt:4wM-i1cxtAM @ 07:55 — Dara Denney
[^8]: yt:4wM-i1cxtAM @ 08:42 — Dara Denney
[^9]: yt:FcI1R-oz-EI @ 50:58 — Janae Lavander
[^10]: yt:KmbEjy0UBT8 @ 15:37 — Dara Denney
[^11]: yt:FcI1R-oz-EI @ 39:05 — Janae Lavander
[^12]: yt:FcI1R-oz-EI @ 40:12 — Janae Lavander
[^13]: yt:76KH-GZZ5w4 @ 01:27 — Savannah Sanchez
[^14]: yt:KmbEjy0UBT8 @ 17:07 — Dara Denney
[^15]: yt:yNTlVKvuX0o @ 23:33 — Dara Denney