Over the years, branded content has been a way for creators on Instagram to turn their passions into livelihoods. Today, we're announcing new ways that we're supporting branded content, including a test in Facebook's Brand Collabs Manager, plus updates to our branded content policies that will bring them closer in line with our ads policies.

Creators are the cornerstone of the Instagram community. They inspire people all over the world, and branded content is one way they're able to build sustainable businesses on Instagram.

For example, here's Charnaie – she runs @hereweeread, an account that recommends children's books that focus on diversity and inclusion. With branded content, Charnaie can sustain and reinvest in her passion through partnerships with brands and publishers whose missions align with her own. As Charnaie told us recently, "I love my full-time job, but I have a deep desire and passion to do more. If I can make a living doing this, if I can work with brands that I respect and admire, it's the ultimate dream for me."

We want to help more creators like Charnaie. That's why we're opening up Facebook's Brand Collabs Manager – a marketplace tool previously only available to Facebook creators – for a selected group of Instagram creators. They'll now be able to share insights and engagement with brands and find partners that will resonate with their audience.

Creators in Brand Collabs Manager can also search for like-minded brands looking to partner on content creation. They can source new deals, manage partnerships and automatically share insights with them (before this, many creators could only send brands screenshots of their analytics).

We've also made it possible for brands to see insights when they're tagged in branded content in both Brand Collabs Manager and the Instagram app. Because influencer networks remain a critical part of branded content, we'll continue to support their access to the Instagram Graph API.

Learn more about Brand Collabs Manager here.

As we invest in ways to help creators partner more effectively with brands, it's also important that we have tools and policies that provide transparency and protect our community. Across the Facebook company, we are updating our policies to include clearer rules for the paid promotion of certain goods and services such as vaping, tobacco, alcohol and diet supplements.

Branded content that promotes goods such as vaping, tobacco products and weapons will not be allowed. Our advertising policies have long prohibited the advertisement of these products, and we will begin enforcement on this in the coming weeks.

Branded content that promotes goods such as alcohol or diet supplements will require special restrictions. These policies will come into effect next year as we continue to improve our tools and detections. For example, we are currently building specific tools to help creators comply with these new policies, including the ability to restrict who can see their content, based on age.

Creators on Instagram are a vital part of our community, and we will be investing even more resources in 2020 to help them build their businesses on Instagram.