How To Become Facebook Partner

What is the Facebook Marketing Partner program? Find out here.

Here at Social Report, we're proud members of the Facebook Marketing Partner program.

Those applying to this program are thoroughly vetted by Facebook for capabilities, expertise, a proven track record of customer success, and customer care quality.

Once all checks come back clear, the applicant is given a Facebook Marketing Partner badge that they can proudly place on their site and other marketing material—but what does it mean beyond the badge?

Well, it's a good thing you asked. Because in this article, we'll clear the air and walk you through the basics of the Marketing Partner Program.

Here we'll discuss what the Marketing Partner Program is, why it's important, how one can get Marketing Partner status, and what our status as a Marketing Partner means for you as a Social Report user.

Sound good with you? Great—let's get started!

The Marketing Partner Program in a nutshell

Social Report is a Facebook Marketing Partner

Facebook Marketing Partners are—in short—vetted third-parties that have a special and more official relationship with Facebook.

These can be social media management apps, chatbot platforms, automation tools, and small business solutions; so basically, anyone that makes third-party solutions for Facebook marketers.

All approved tools and services have been vetted by Facebook for legitimacy and usefulness, and are proven to be safe to use. Don't worry, we'll talk about that more in the next section.

Once accepted into the program, Marketing Partners get expanded access to Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp API's as well as a Facebook Marketing Partner badge they can wear proudly on their site.

Further, Marketing Partners are invited to special events and get priority developer support. This means that developers in the program are better trained and issues are fixed quicker, giving the end-user a better experience.

Even cooler, all Facebook Marketing Partners are listed on Facebook's website, so make sure to cross-check this list before you work with a Partner.

How to join the Marketing Partner Program

Joining the Marketing Partner Program is an intense process.

Aspiring Marketing Partners have to apply on Facebook's website and prove that they meet three sets of requirements: basic, country, and category.

The "basic requirements" are split up between tangible and intangible requirements.

Tangibles are largely tech requirements, while intangibles are proof that the service brings value to its clients and customers.

Here what Facebook's says about said requirements:

"While there are many considerations in approving a new Partner, there are a few basic criteria needed to get you in the door. These include:

Are you great at one of our specialties in at least one major country?

Do you have (and are willing to dedicate?) the resources to stay current with fast-moving technology and policy changes?

Do you have a transparent business model?

Can you show a track record of client success?

And then there are "intangibles." These are things that might help your company rise above the rest, such as:

Do you bring something new to the program?

Are you aligned with Facebook's vision and policies?

Do you have good relationships with your clients and Facebook?"

Country requirements are the easiest of the three.

Essentially, Facebook requires that the app has customer support in its target timezone, speaks the native language, and has a proven track record of providing stellar support (based on customer feedback).

Finally, Facebook has category requirements too. These are a little more in-depth and vary based on the applicant's specific product category. Here's the partner category list:

Ad Technology — products that help Facebook marketers scale and manage ads
Community Management — social media management apps (like Social Report!)
Creative Platforms — apps that make mobile-first creation easy
Small Business Solutions — social media tech for local businesses
Offline Conversions — apps that help you find your current customers on Facebook
Measurement — track Facebook campaign performance

Here's a look at our category's (Community Management) requirements. These are the same requirements we had to adhere to when applying for Facebook Marketing Partner status:

"Community Management partners help marketers manage conversations with customers on Facebook Pages. Some of the things we look for:

Have your own proprietary technology (not provided through alliance or partnership) that enables the management of multiple Pages at scale: posting, moderating and measuring

Provide insights to help marketers understand their Facebook Page activity

Show consistent track record of client success"

Why is the Marketing Partner program necessary?

The Marketing Partner Program has been around for years, but just recently started making headlines again... and for a good reason.

Facebook has continued to grow exponentially, clocking in over 2 billion Facebook users, 1 billion Instagram users, and 1.5 billion WhatsApp users.

This means that the networks are becoming more and more integral to our everyday lives as social media users. And with that, Facebook's commitment to privacy is becoming more and more important.

This is especially important when you consider Facebook's not-so-perfect privacy record in 2018. For example, privacy mishaps like the Cambridge Analytica scandal landed Facebook in court and brought its privacy concerns to international news.

So, to ensure one of these privacy scandals never happens again, Facebook has continued to double-down on its API access.

Having the Marketing Partner Program in place lets Facebook vet the third-parties that use its API to push posts, create ads, pull reports, and target users for marketing purposes.

This makes sure that private datanever falls into the wrong hands, ensuring that crucial (and data intensive) new features are only used by the apps that deserve it.

And on a more practical level, it also ensures that Facebook marketers are getting real results from their marketing tools.

Since all members of the Facebook Marketing Partner Program are vetted, they can't make false claims or promise features that don't exist.

Here's what Social Report's Marketing Partner status means for you

We're proud to say that Social Report got its Facebook Marketing Partner status earlier this year.

For you, this means that Social Report will always be first to market with awesome new Facebook and Instagram features that you won't find on other social media management apps.

The most notable feature is direct Instagram video scheduling.

This feature isonly available to Marketing Partners, and we're thefirstMarketing Partner to add it to our feature list.Pretty sweet, right!?

Expanded access to the Facebook and Instagram API's also lets us give you super detailed reports on the networks. Use these reports to track you or your client's growth and find new avenues for success.

So, long story short: Marketing Partner Status lets us give you the best possible Facebook and Instagram experience with cutting-edge new features, all under a layer of legitimacy.

So yeah, we've got your back on Facebook marketing 😎

Bottom line

The Facebook Marketing Partner Program has allowed us to introduce game-changing features like direct Instagram video scheduling. It's an honor to be in the program, and we're happy we can clear the air and share the specifics of it with you.

Let us know if you have any further questions in the comments below. We'll jump in and answer them throughout the week.

Need a new Facebook management tool? Try the award-winning Social Report dashboard.