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Meta's branded content tool and TikTok's Commercial Content Disclosure setting are the platform-native switches a creator turns on to flag a post as commercial. Meta requires the brand's approval and shows "Paid partnership with [Brand]"; TikTok lets the creator choose between "Your brand" and "Branded content" with no approval step. Neither tool replaces your own legal ad disclosure under Danish or EU law.
When a post involves a commercial benefit — payment, a free product, or commission — it has to be marked as an ad. Influencer marketing disclosure rules in Denmark and the EU already covers that requirement in full: when the duty applies and how to word the disclosure correctly under Forbrugerombudsmanden's guidance. This article covers something different: the platform-native tools Meta and TikTok themselves provide to flag commercial content — what they're actually called, how a creator turns each one on, and what they do and don't do.
On Instagram and Facebook, the tool is called the branded content tool (commonly known by the label it produces, "Paid partnership"), and it requires the brand to actively approve the tag. On TikTok, it's called Commercial Content Disclosure, and the creator chooses between two labels themselves, with no brand approval step required. Both are documented directly on TikTok's and Meta's own help pages — and both platforms are explicit that the tool alone doesn't satisfy your legal disclosure obligation.
TikTok groups the setting under "Content disclosure and ads", found when a creator is posting (or under "More options" if the account isn't part of TikTok One). There, the creator turns on "Disclose commercial content" and picks one of two labels:
| Label the creator selects | Used when | What shows on the video |
|---|---|---|
| "Your brand" | The creator is promoting their own brand or product | "Commercial content" |
| "Branded content" | The video was made for a third-party brand in exchange for payment or another benefit | "Paid partnership" |
Choosing "Branded content" also requires tagging the brand partner, and TikTok's own documentation describes a default 60-day authorization period for that tag. If the account is part of TikTok One (TikTok's own creator marketplace), the Branded Content disclosure is activated automatically on projects run through it.
The setting isn't only available when creating a new post. TikTok's help centre describes the same option available via post editing ("More options" → "Ad settings"), through LIVE settings, and on browser upload — so a creator can still add the disclosure after the fact if it was missed at the time of posting.
On Instagram and Facebook, the tool is turned on from the profile menu: Business tools and controls (or Creator tools and controls) → Branded content → "Set up branded content." The feature has to be enabled before it can be used, and — per Meta's own guidance and consistent industry documentation — this can only be done from the app, not from desktop.
Once enabled, the creator tags the brand partner directly in the post. That triggers an approval request to the brand's account — without the brand's approval, the label doesn't appear. If the brand approves the tag, the text "Paid partnership with [Brand]" appears beneath the creator's name on feed posts, Reels, and Stories. The same mechanism is used on Threads.
It's this approved tag that later lets the brand turn the post into a paid ad running from the creator's own account — see creator whitelisting, Spark Ads and Partnership Ads explained for that half of the process. The two things are connected but solve different jobs: the branded content tool is the disclosure on the organic post; Partnership Ads is the right to pay to boost it afterward.
| Meta (Instagram/Facebook) | TikTok | |
|---|---|---|
| Setting name | Branded content tool ("Paid partnership") | Commercial Content Disclosure |
| Requires brand approval? | Yes — no label without acceptance from the brand's account | No — the creator selects and enables it themselves |
| Labels | One label: "Paid partnership with [Brand]" | Two options: "Commercial content" (own brand) or "Paid partnership" (third party) |
| Where it shows | Feed, Reels, Stories, Threads | Video posts, LIVE |
| Can it be added after posting? | Not documented as possible after publishing | Yes — via post editing, LIVE settings or browser upload |
| Connects to | Partnership Ads (requires an approved branded content tag as a precondition) | Spark Ads (requires a separate authorization code — see the whitelisting article) |
The single most important thing to understand, regardless of platform: neither TikTok's nor Meta's tool replaces your ad-disclosure obligation under Danish or EU law. That's already established in influencer marketing disclosure rules in Denmark and the EU: Forbrugerombudsmanden treats the platform's own label as a support, not a substitute, for the influencer's own clear disclosure — because platform labels have historically proven easy to overlook.
TikTok's own Branded Content Policy makes the same point explicitly: the creator and the brand remain responsible for ensuring the content complies with all applicable laws, and TikTok's own rules aren't exhaustive relative to other legal requirements. In other words: turn the tool on and write "ad for [brand]" as the first, visible element of the post — not one or the other.
The example below is hypothetical and illustrates only a typical delay scenario — it is not a claim about a real Make Influence customer case.
A creator posts on Instagram on day 1 and tags the brand as branded content. The brand's social media lead only checks tag-approval requests once a week, on Fridays, and doesn't see the request until day 4. Approval happens between day 4 and day 6, and the branded content label goes live. Only then can the brand generate a Partnership Ads code and start boosting the post — a delay of up to six days that has nothing to do with anything technically wrong with the post itself. It isn't a platform-tool failure: it's an operational gap, because no one on the brand side owns the job of checking approvals on a regular cadence.
In Make Influence's experience, the brand side is by far the more common bottleneck in this process — not the creator. Creators typically turn the tool on without issue, because it's a routine part of their own posting workflow. What goes wrong is that no one at the brand owns checking and approving the tag promptly, especially when the collaboration is also meant to lead into a Partnership Ad or Spark Ads boost afterward. We recommend making "check and approve branded content tags" a named, standing responsibility — on the same footing as the rest of your content approval workflow — rather than something that gets handled ad hoc whenever someone happens to notice it.
No. Per Forbrugerombudsmanden, the platform's own label is a support, not a substitute, for your own clear disclosure — see influencer marketing disclosure rules in Denmark and the EU for the full requirement.
No, not for the Commercial Content Disclosure label itself — the creator selects and turns it on independently. Brand approval only becomes relevant if you later want to authorize a Spark Ads boost, which is a separate step.
No. Approving the disclosure tag itself is the precondition; Partnership Ads and Spark Ads are the right to subsequently pay to boost the approved post as an ad — see creator whitelisting, Spark Ads and Partnership Ads explained.
On TikTok, yes — via post editing, LIVE settings, or browser upload, per TikTok's own documentation. On Meta, it isn't documented as possible after publishing, so the safer approach is to turn the tool on before the post goes live.
Yes. Both the platforms' own rules and Danish disclosure law apply regardless of whether the benefit is money, a free product, or something else of value — see the full breakdown in influencer marketing disclosure rules in Denmark and the EU.
Yes. Meta's branded content label shows on feed posts, Reels, and Stories (and Threads). On TikTok, Commercial Content Disclosure can also be turned on in LIVE settings, not just on standard video posts.
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