Instagram Audience Errors When Using Partnership Access (via Leadsie) + Meta Partnership Ads

Last updated: 29 September 2025

Agencies may see an error when publishing Instagram ads that target an influencer’s audience (e.g., “Instagram Engaged – last 365 days”) if the influencer is connected to the Business Manager in two ways at once:

Via Partner Access to the Page/IG (via Leadsie) (recommended), and
Via Meta’s Partnership Ads (formerly Branded Content Ads) connection.

When both are active, Meta can block certain audiences and prevent publishing.

Symptoms

Publishing appears to start but fails; Ads Manager shows a generic error or “completed” status that then reverts.
An error referencing custom audience sharing appears (often in other languages). Example: “Sharing of custom audiences not possible…”
Happens specifically when selecting the influencer’s Instagram engagement audience (e.g., 365 days).

Root Cause

The influencer is connected through both methods (Partner Access to the Page/IG and Meta Partnership Ads). Meta does not allow these to coexist for targeting certain Instagram engagement audiences.

Quick Fix (TL;DR)

Remove the influencer’s Partnership Ads connection in Meta Business Manager.
Keep the Partner Access to the Page/IG connection only.
Return to Ads Manager and publish the campaign again.

Step-by-Step: Diagnose & Resolve

1) Confirm dual connections

Open Meta Business Settings → Partnership Ads (Branded Content/Partnership Center).
Search for the influencer and check if they are connected via Partnership Ads.
Separately, confirm the influencer/page is connected via Leadsie Whitelisting (your normal workflow).

2) Remove the Partnership Ads connection

In Partnership Ads, select the influencer’s connection.
Click Remove / Disconnect to revoke the Partnership Ads access.
Do not remove the Leadsie Whitelisting access.

3) Republish the ad

Go back to Ads Manager → open the draft campaign/ad set.
At the ad set level, under Audience, choose the influencer’s Instagram engagement audience again.
Click Publish.

Tip: If Ads Manager still looks “stuck,” hard-refresh the page or clear cache, then try Publish again.

Best Practices (to prevent recurrences)

Use one access method per influencer. We recommend Partner Access to the Page/IG for reliability and simplicity.
Avoid adding the same influencer via both Whitelisting and Partnership Ads.
If you see unexplained audience errors, first check for a lingering Partnership Ads connection.

FAQ

Q: Which connection should we keep?

A: Keep the shared Page/Instagram (added through Leadsie). Remove the Partnership Ads connection.

Q: Do we need to recreate the Instagram engagement audience?

A: Usually not. After removing the Partnership Ads connection, the existing audience should work. If issues persist, recreate it from the correct Business Manager and try again.

Q: The error message is in another language and vague. What should I look for?

A: Any wording like “sharing of custom audiences not possible”, “can’t use this audience”, or “permissions/ownership” hints often points to the dual-connection conflict.

Q: We need Branded Content features. Can we keep Partnership Ads?

A: You can, but don’t combine it with Leadsie Whitelisting for the same influencer if you plan to use their Instagram engagement audiences for targeting.

Troubleshooting Checklist

✅ Confirm the influencer is not connected via Partnership Ads.
✅ Confirm the influencer/page is connected via Partner Access to the Page/IG only.
✅ Ensure the audience was created under the correct Business Manager and correct ad account.
✅ Refresh Ads Manager and retry Publish.

Need Help?

If you’ve completed the steps and still can’t publish, please contact support with:

Ad account ID and Business Manager ID
Screenshot of the Partnership Ads page showing the influencer is disconnected
Screenshot of the ad set’s Audience panel
Exact error text (copy/paste) and the time you attempted to publish

We’ll review your configuration and help you resolve it.