Meta announced a slate of updates to its creator marketing tools at IAB's first Global Creator Week, expanding its Creator Marketing Hub globally and adding AI-assisted workflows, new APIs, and Instagram Live video ads. The changes, rolling out through the remainder of 2026, give advertisers and agencies more automated ways to discover creators, manage campaigns, and turn organic content into paid Partnership Ads directly from a single interface.
The Creator Marketing Hub will now include new discovery filters, content-level permissions with expiry dates, and one-click ad creation tied to campaign objectives like sales or awareness. Editing tools inside the Hub will let advertisers fix issues such as copyrighted music or stickers before creator content runs as an ad. Partnership Messaging is also being integrated, so businesses can find, contact, and activate creators without leaving the platform.
APIs expand to Facebook creators and agency workflows
Meta is extending its Creator Marketplace API to include Facebook creators alongside Instagram creators. A new Messaging API will allow agencies to manage creator outreach through their own systems, while an expanded Content Discovery API adds organic content recommendations, keyword search, performance insights, and a signal indicating whether a creator's content is cleared for advertising use.
Lori Gosnell, Head of Product & Operations at OMG Creo, said, "At scale, great creator strategies depend on both audience intelligence and proven performance signals. Meta's expansion of audience-based creator discovery and the addition of organic content performance data give us even stronger tools to identify the right creators, validate recommendations, and drive more impactful outcomes for our clients."
AI assistant and MCP connector bring automation to campaign management
Meta's AI business assistant is being added to the Creator Marketing Hub, where users can search for creators, get recommendations, and receive guidance on creator marketing workflows. Partnership Ads are also being plugged into the Meta Ads MCP connector, which lets advertisers and agencies build and manage creator campaigns through compatible AI agents or large language models.
Jack Johnston, VP Innovation & Growth at Tinuiti, said the MCP connector has already reduced manual reporting work for his team. "We're excited to see Partnership Ads get incorporated directly into the Meta MCP, where we can build, test, and optimize these campaigns even faster, and scale what's already been working." For marketing managers looking to build these skills, AI Marketing Manager Courses cover campaign automation and optimization strategies relevant to these tools.
Instagram Live video ads launch September 29
Live video ads, already available on Facebook, will become generally available on Instagram starting September 29. The format lets brands turn a creator's Instagram Live broadcast into a Partnership Ad, opening a new channel for real-time, interactive branded content.
Woosung Kim, Performance Marketing Manager at eBay Japan, described Instagram Live as "a pivotal engagement channel" for reaching Gen Z and K-Beauty audiences. "While we are currently expanding our user touchpoints through simulcasting, we are excited to drive even deeper and more dynamic interactions using the diverse upcoming features of Instagram Live Video Ads," Kim said.
Why this matters for marketers
These updates collapse previously separate steps - creator discovery, outreach, content clearance, and ad creation - into a single workflow with AI assistance. For teams running influencer campaigns at scale, the API expansions mean less time switching between tools and more time testing what works. The Instagram Live ad format also gives performance marketers a new inventory type that captures real-time engagement, which has been difficult to buy programmatically until now. Professionals working across social platforms can explore AI Social Media Courses to stay current on automation tactics that apply directly to these Meta tools.
Your membership also unlocks:
