How to set up a Facebook Business Manager Advertising Account
Facebook Business Manager is a free tool created by Facebook to allow multiple people to work on the same Facebook page or ad account, without being directly connected as Facebook friends.
It is also useful for organisations who want to set different permissions and controls for different members of staff and for organisations who work with an external partner or agency.
For our clients who are planning to run Facebook Ads we will often recommend they create a Facebook Business Manager Account first and then create a new Advertising account within it. This offers a more flexible and structured platform than a personal advertising account.
Creating an advertising account within Business Manager enables a company to have control over its advertising expenditure and payment methods whilst allowing an external partner/agency to create and manage ad campaigns on their behalf.
In this regard, Facebook advertising management is ahead of Google advertising management which doesn’t offer this same degree of separation. However, Facebook Business Manager is not the easiest tool to get set up. This guide explains how to set up a new ad account in Facebook Business Manager and grant access to an agency / external party.
What you will need
- A company Facebook page
- A personal Facebook account that is an administrator of your Facebook company page
1. Create a Business Manager Account
Go to https://business.facebook.com
Login using your normal personal Facebook account. Your personal account is only used for authenticating your login – none of your personal details, posts, pictures etc. are shared with the Business Manager account.
Click the [Create Account] button
Enter the basic details of your business to create your Business Manager account
With the new account created you are taken to the Business Manager Set Up dashboard.
Adding, Creating and Requesting Access
At this point it is worth noting the difference between ‘Adding’, ‘Creating’ and ‘Requesting Access’ to resources.
When Facebook prompts you to Add Page, Add Advert Account or Add People, it means add an existing resource into Business Manager. For example, you can add your existing company Facebook page into the resources that can be managed through Business Manager (step 2).
However, if you don’t already have a resource, such as an advert account, you will need to use the Create option (step 3).
If you want to add an existing resource but you do not have the necessary permissions to the resource then you can request access to it. For example, if you wish to manage a company page but you are not an administrator of that page, then selecting the request access option will send a notification to the admins of the page asking them to approve your request to manage the page in Business Manager.
2. Add your Company Page into your Business Manager account
Click the [Add Page] Option
Enter the name of your company page and assuming you are an admin of that page you will be given the option to add it into your Business Manager account.
3. Create your Facebook Advertising Account
To be able to run Facebook ads you need an advert account. Click the Create Advert Account option
Select the name of your ad account, time zone and currency for billing.
You can have multiple people manage your ad account with different roles: Advert Account Admin, Advert Account Advertiser and Advert Account Analyst.
- An Advert Account Analyst can view advert performance but cannot make any amendments.
- An Advert Account Advertiser can edit ads and create new ads using a previously associated payment method, but can’t view or adjust billing information and can’t assign account roles to others.
- An Advert Account Admin has all permissions.
Add yourself to the account as the Advert Account Admin.
You have now successfully created your ad account and can start to create new ads. If you are working with an agency or third-party then you can grant them permission to create ads (step 4)
Before you can run any ads you need to set up a payment method.
Click the gear icon in the grey header bar to access your Business Settings. Choose the payments option in the menu bar and click ‘Add Payment Method’. The options available will depend on the billing country and currency you selected for your ad account.
4. Invite your agency to join your advertising account
If you are working with an external agency or partner to create and manage ads on your behalf you will need to grant them access to both your ad account and your company page. You will continue to be the owner of the ad account and the page.
The agency will use their own Facebook Business Manager account to connect to your company page and advert account.
Each page and advertising account has its own Facebook ID. You will need to provide the IDs to your agency and they will make an access request. You can find the IDs on your Business Manager Dashboard or within the Business Manager Settings.
Once the agency has requested access, visit the Business Manager Settings (gear icon) and click the Requests menu option. You will see the roles they have requested (they will need at least the Advert Account Advertiser role in order to create ads for you). If you are happy then Accept the Request.
The agency can then begin to create and manage ads for you.
Tip: If you ever want to remove agency access from your company page or ad account, select the Partners menu item from within your Business Manager Settings, select the agency and click Remove Partner.
5. Add your colleagues to the Business Manager account
You are likely to want to have more than one member of staff using the Business Manager. You can add new people simply by entering their email address.
You can choose to assign the employee with roles for the page and the advertising account as part of the step-by-step wizard.
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