Collab posts on Instagram are driving improved performance for brand promotions, according to the latest data insights from Emplifi.
The Emplifi team recently reviewed more than 520,00 posts from 3,791 brand profiles on Instagram in order to glean insights into the trends driving brand performance in 2026.
The key finding: Creator-published collaborations consistently outperform brand posts and brand-published collaborations.
Emplifi’s data showed that more than 73% of brands on Instagram are using Instagram’s collaboration feature.
There are, however, variations in the types of collab posts used.
Instagram now offers two different types of brand collaborations. Emplifi defined these as owned collaborations, where the brand publishes the post and invites a creator to collaborate, and accepted collaborations, where a creator publishes a promotional post and invites the brand to collaborate.
These partnerships can be facilitated in Meta’s evolving creator partnership platform, which enables discovery and creates the capacity to reach out to potential partners. It also allows creators and brands to manage sponsorship requests.
According to Emplifi’s data, it’s the creator-led approach, where the creator publishes a post and invites a brand to sponsor or partner on it, that’s driving the biggest response.
As explained by Emplifi: “Accepted collaborations again deliver the strongest results, reaching more than 5x the amplification of non-collab posts in ecommerce and retail. Even in verticals with comparatively lower uplift, both collaboration types generate significantly more shares and reposts than standard brand posts.”
That’s likely been helped by Meta’s expanded affiliate program, which enables creators to select from a range of products they can promote in their Reels clips.
Meta announced a significant expansion of this program in March, and it could be that the uptick in performance of creator-led campaigns has come as a result of more creators seeking to earn commissions through this scheme. Notably, Emplifi’s data pool covers posts between January 1 and June 30.
Either way, it seems that creator-led collaborations are driving better response, which could be a valuable consideration for marketers.
In terms of content, Emplifi’s data showed that collaboration boosts performance across all posts types, but Reels see the strongest gains.
This makes sense. Grabbing audience attention with short-form video requires a level of understanding of the medium and of key trends that are driving engagement. As such, creators often have a better handle on this, given it’s their main focus.
