Find Instagram creators

For brands that want to find and message Instagram creators, not just TikTok Shop affiliates.

The Instagram tab of Creator Search searches Meta's Instagram Creator Marketplace: creators who have opted in to brand partnerships on Instagram. Meta decides who is in the marketplace and ranks the results, so this search works differently from the TikTok and YouTube tabs.

The short version

• Instagram Creator Search is part of the Scale plan.
• Open Creator Search in the sidebar and pick the Instagram tab.
• Connect Meta with the Instagram account your brand will search and message from.
• Search by keyword, look up one creator with @username, or narrow with Filters.
• Click a creator to see their insights, audience and recent posts, then Send partnership message.
• Save as list saves up to 5,000 matching creators. Create automation turns your filters into an Instagram automation.
• Instagram creators can be reached by Instagram DM and Email.

Connect Meta

The first time you open the tab, it asks you to connect.

1. Click Connect with Facebook and sign in with the Meta account that manages your brand's Instagram professional account.
2. Leave every permission ticked. Cruva asks for Creator Marketplace discovery and partnership-messaging access.
3. Choose the Facebook Page linked to your brand's Instagram account.

The chip at the top right then shows your Instagram account and the Page it's connected through. Search and outreach run as this Instagram account. It is the same Meta connection used by Social Listening and Meta Ads, so if your shop already connected Meta you may only need Grant permissions to add the marketplace access.

This Instagram account isn't in Creator Marketplace yet. If you see this, Meta is connected but won't let your account search. Either the account hasn't accepted the Creator Marketplace terms, or Meta hasn't made the marketplace available to it:

1. Click Open Meta Business Suite and go to Creator marketplace for your Instagram account.
2. Accept the Creator Marketplace terms if you're asked to.
3. Come back and click Try again.

If Meta doesn't offer Creator marketplace for the account, it isn't eligible yet. Meta decides eligibility, and it can change as the account grows.

Searching

Type a keyword (for example skincare or home decor) and press Search. To look up one creator, type @username. Meta ignores your other filters during a username lookup.

With no keyword or filters, you see Top creators for your brand, Meta's picks for your account. Once you search or filter, the heading changes to Matching creators. The results are ranked by Meta and there's no total count. The sort menu sets Meta's ranking: Most relevant (default), High ad performance, Most ads experience, Worked with similar brands, Similar audience or Interested in collaboration.

Two checkboxes sit under the search bar:

• Only show creators with emails: creators with a public contact email.
• Hide creators I've already messaged.

Filtering

Click Filters. Filters apply as soon as you set them, and each one shows as a chip you can remove.

• Creator: Keywords, Followers, Similar to creators (up to 5 usernames of marketplace creators; can't be combined with keywords), Creator countries, Creator states, Interests, Languages, Creator age, Creator gender, Verified account, Has portfolio and Has public contact email.
• Audience: Audience countries, Audience states, Audience age, Audience gender and Audience device. These match creators whose largest audience group fits.
• Performance: Engaged accounts, Reels interaction rate, Last posted, Follower growth, Recommendation, Featured in paid ads, and Custom audience if your ad account has one.

Creators above 250K followers can't receive partnership messages, so keep the follower range below that if you plan to message them.

Looking at a creator

Each row shows the creator, their followers, their email when they have a public one, tags such as Verified, Follows you and Messaged, and a DM button.

Click a creator to open their profile. It shows:

• Insights: Followers, Reach (14 days), Engaged accounts (14 days), Reels interaction rate, Reels hook rate, Views (14 days) and Interactions (14 days).
• Audience: engaged accounts by age, gender and country, and reach by follower status.
• Whether they follow your brand, and whether you follow them.
• Recent posts, and a link to their Portfolio if they have one.

Insights come from Meta when you open the profile, so they can take a moment to load.

Messaging a creator

Click DM on a row, or Send partnership message in the profile. The message is sent through the Instagram Creator Marketplace as a paid-partnership message and lands in the creator's partnership inbox.

• Messages are up to 1,000 bytes. You can attach an image (PNG or JPEG, up to 8 MB), or video, audio or a PDF (up to 25 MB).
• Meta allows 2 messages per creator in 30 days until they reply, and 250 new creators per day for your Instagram account.
• Some creators can't receive partnership messages (not onboarded, over 250K followers, or opted out). The button is disabled for them.

Replies arrive in Creator Messages, on the Instagram tab. See How to use Message Center.

Saving creators to a list

1. Set up your search and filters.
2. Click Save as list.
3. Choose Create new and enter a List title, or Add to existing.
4. Set Max creators (up to 5,000) and save.

The list builds in the background and takes about a minute. A banner shows progress, and View list opens it when it's done. Every matching creator is saved with their Instagram username, whether or not they have an email. Those with a public email can also get your email campaigns. See Managing lists.

Turning a search into an automation

Set your keyword or filters, then click Create automation. The automation builder opens with the same filters, and it messages matching creators a few at a time within Meta's daily limit. A username lookup can't become an automation, since it finds one creator. See Instagram automations.

Common questions

Why don't I see a total number of results? Meta returns a ranked list for each search, without a count.

Why can't I message a creator? They aren't onboarded to partnership messages, have more than 250K followers, or have opted out. Meta decides this.

Why does the tab say my account isn't in Creator Marketplace? Your Instagram account needs to accept the Creator Marketplace terms in Meta Business Suite, and Meta has to have made the marketplace available to it. Follow the steps on the page, then click Try again.

Cruva asks me to grant permissions again. Your Meta connection is missing a marketplace permission or has expired. Click Grant permissions or Reconnect and leave every permission ticked in the Facebook dialog.

Can I reach Instagram creators by email? Yes. Creators with a public email can be emailed once they're on a list. Tick Only show creators with emails before saving to keep just those.