Monetize category and topic takeovers

Learn how to bundle communities and groups that share a category or topic into one Partnered Takeover, with contextual targeting, premium CPMs, and category-level reporting.

A category or topic takeover offers a sponsorship within a specific interest, such as Fashion, Fitness, or Tech, instead of one feed at a time. A feed takeover covers a single placement or feed. A category takeover covers several communities grouped by a theme.

Contextual relevance and intent-driven audiences raise CPMs, and partners get content exposure that's more relevant to their audience. You package premium inventory across several communities under one theme, so sponsorships scale across verticals instead of single placements.

Takeovers use the same sponsorship setup as any other campaign in your Business Account. For the whole product, see Monetize: what it does and where to start. For the full sponsorship form, see Set up a community sponsorship.

Define categories and topics

Start by structuring your content into clear groupings:

Categories, for example Fashion, Sports, or Entertainment.
Topics or sub-groups within communities.

These groupings usually come from your brand taxonomy, community and group classifications, and AI-curated content segmentation. Learn more about brand categories and topics.

In Manage > Category, you add, edit, and delete categories, plus the topics and keywords inside each one. Your brand needs at least three categories at all times.

Each category holds topics, and placement styles tie to them.

Choose the takeover inventory

Decide where the takeover applies:

All communities under a specific category.
Selected groups within a topic.
Cross-community placements tied to a theme.

This bundles inventory across several feeds into a single sponsorship opportunity.

Choose the format

For category-level monetization, a Partnered Takeover is the most effective format:

Format	Role
Partnered Takeover	Fills the feeds within the selected category or topic
Partnered Post	Supports the takeover with additional content

A takeover gives the partner a high share of voice and consistent visibility across every relevant feed. Learn more about Paid Partner Takeover and how sponsored posts and takeovers work.

A takeover's videos play first. With its content toggle on, normal content follows them. With it off, only the takeover videos show, in a continuous loop.

With more than 10 videos selected, a takeover keeps looping whatever the toggle is set to.

Choose Sponsored Takeover for a category takeover.

Create the sponsorship

When you set up the campaign:

Select up to 20 posts that fit the category or topic.

Step 1: Filter posts by brand, community, group, or category to find ones that fit the takeover.

Choose the placements and embeds mapped to those communities.

Step 2: Map the sponsorship to the placements of the category's communities.

Make sure every post is approved, contextually relevant, and not marked as a House Ad. Learn more about House Ads.

When you build a placement in Grow > On Site, its Feed Type can be Brand Feed, Community Feed, or Group Feed. An embed's Embed Type offers the same three options.

Order the posts and add each one's link-out and tracking on the Content Priority step.

Apply category and topic targeting

Configure distribution so the takeover appears only where it's most relevant:

Map the sponsorship to specific categories.
Map it to the relevant communities and groups.
Include only contextual feeds.

A takeover can span more than one category. We recommend keeping each campaign contextually focused because focus improves both performance and pricing.

Set pricing for contextual reach

Category takeovers usually command higher CPMs because of audience intent, contextual alignment, and less wasted reach.

Parameter	Guidance
CPM	Set higher for niche or high-demand categories
Budget	Base it on the scale of the selected communities
Duration	Use short bursts for maximum impact

Price each takeover by category demand, audience size, and engagement levels. Higher-intent categories can command premium CPMs.

Set the CPM and budget for the takeover.

Launch and prioritize delivery

Delivery depends on:

The sponsorship status, which must be Live.
The placement configuration, with each placement enabled in Ad Configuration.
Priority logic, which favors a higher CPM, then a higher remaining budget.
The preset's Partnered Takeover toggle, which must be on. When it is, a takeover shows before sponsored posts on the same placement or embed.

This gives the takeover maximum visibility within its category. Overlapping campaigns are managed by the same priority logic, which weighs CPM, budget, and campaign configuration across communities. Learn more about ad monetization presets.

Review the sponsorship's details, then click Add Sponsored Post.

Measure performance by context

Track how the takeover performs within the targeted category:

Engagement rates within specific communities.
Watch time and completion rates.
Click-through and conversion metrics.

These numbers show partners the return of a category-level takeover.

Limitations

Post limit: You can add up to 20 posts per sponsorship.
Approved posts only: Unapproved posts can't be part of a takeover.
No House Ads: House Ads are excluded from sponsorship campaigns and run only as fallback content.
Ad Configuration required: Each placement must be enabled in Ad Configuration, and the campaign must be Live.
Mapping-based targeting: Category targeting follows the community and group mapping. Visibility covers every mapped community.

Example campaigns

Fashion category takeover: A fashion brand partners on a seasonal campaign. It targets all fashion-related communities and runs a Partnered Takeover for 5 days, reaching style-focused audiences.
Fitness topic activation: A health brand promotes a new product to fitness and wellness groups with contextual video content.
Entertainment release campaign: A streaming platform launching a new show takes over entertainment communities with a short campaign during the release window.