Facebook Ads Manager is the perfect Facebook ads tool and interface for individuals and small to medium sized businesses who want to advertise on Facebook, and continue to manage their Facebook Page(s) when using Facebook as themselves. In contrast, Facebook Business Manager was designed with agencies in mind; it allows you to assign different Page and Ads account permissions to your team members, and houses Pages that your agency manages as well as Facebook ads accounts that your agency manages. You visit your Business Manager to access all connected Pages and ads accounts instead of individually visiting those same Facebook Pages from your personal profile.
Starting in mid-October 2018, Ads Manager users who had at least 1 custom audience created from an uploaded customer file (think: your list of email subscribers) began being shown the message below.
Essentially, Ads Manager users are required to move to Business Manager by October 31, 2018, if they want to continue to use those saved customer file audiences.
So, although Business Manager is overkill (and likely, added headaches) for most small business Facebook advertisers and Page admins, the migration to Business Manager is likely inevitable so let’s get started by moving our Facebook Business Page and Ads account over to Business Manager.
Begin by visiting https://business.facebook.com/overview when logged into Facebook. You can first scroll down on that page and read a bit more about what Business Manager offers, then click on the Create Account button in the upper right corner to get started migrating your Facebook Business Page and Ads account over to Business Manager.
You can select your Facebook Business Page from the list of existing businesses or click the Create New Account button at the bottom if you are starting from scratch with your business presence on Facebook.
Once you select the account you want to move to Business Manager, the Connect Accounts button at the bottom will turn blue. Click to move to the next step of the process.
Next, name your new Business Manager account, and add a work email address. Facebook recommends naming your Business Manager account the same name as your business.
Next, you’ll need to enter your business details including address, phone number and website, and select between “Promote its own goods and services” and “Provide services to other businesses”.
Once you submit your business contact info, you’ll see a pop-up that directs you to click a confirmation link sent to the work email address you entered.
Click on the link sent to you at your work email address, and a new tab will open that places you inside Facebook Business Manager.
Moving your Facebook Business Page to Business Manager
At this time, only the Facebook Business Page that you added to Business Manager will be inside Business Manager.
You will need to click to grant existing Admins, Editors, etc., access to manage your Facebook Business Page in Business Manager before they’ll be able to work on your Business Page from Business Manager. To access the current list of people managing your Facebook Business Page outside of Business Manager, click on Accounts –> Pages as seen in the screenshot below. There’s a note and + Add button connected to each Page Manager’s name. For any users that you want to manage your Business Page from inside your new Business Manager, simply click on the + Add button. They will receive an invite in their email that they will need to accept in order to manage your Facebook Business Page from your new Business Manager.
At any time, you may need to add new people to your Business Manager who haven’t previously been connected to your Facebook Business Page or Ads account. To do this, you’ll need to first add those people to your Business Manager, and once they accept their Business Manager invite, you can assign them to your Page or Ads Account, as needed. For anyone you don’t see in the list under the Users –> People heading (shown above), click the blue + Add button to invite them.
Note: If you don’t add existing Admins, Editors, etc. to them your Business Manager, they’ll continue to manage your Business Page how they normally do (outside of Business Manager). This includes adding yourself to manage your Facebook Business Page and Ads Account inside Business Manager.
After adding a Facebook Business Page to a Business Manager, you as the admin of the Business Page will need to accept the Business Manager request on behalf of the Page. To do so, visit your Business Page (outside of Business Manager), then click on Settings –> Page Roles. Once accepted, you’ll see your new Business Manager as Page Owner (or Agency Partner if an outside company has requested access to your Business Page).
Moving your Ads Manager Account to Business Manager
After adding your Facebook Business Page to your new Business Manager, you’ll also need to complete a separate process to add your Ads account to Business Manager. Start by clicking on Ad Accounts under the Accounts tab on the left-hand sidebar. You’ll see that you need to click to add your Ads Manager account to your newly created Business Manager account.
It’s critical to read the 3 Add Ads Account choices you are given. Choosing “Add an Ads Account” moves your existing Ads account it into Business Manager. This is what you’ll want to do for your own Ads account. But if you are trying to use your Business Manager account to manage someone else’s Ads account, you need to select “Request Access to an Ad Account”. You’ll see it’s noted that requesting access does not change ownership of the ads account. This is important because if you are assisting someone else with their Ads account, you don’t want to mistakenly take away their ownership of that ads account when moving it into your Business Manager to manage it.
Once you click on Add an Ads Account, you’ll need to look up your Ads account ID number to enter into the field.
You can find this when viewing your Ads account in Ads Manager. You’ll see the number inside parentheses and located after your Ads account name.
You’ll receive confirmation of the move of your Ads account from Ads Manager over to Business Manager.
Adding Security to your Facebook Business Manager Account
From your Business.Facebook.com/settings/security screen, you will see all the current and potential ways to secure your new Business Manager account.
You can add a phone number to receive text alerts from Facebook, generate special login codes, and access recovery codes.
Alternately, visit the Security Center tab located near the bottom of the lefthand nav bar to access these security features.
Troubleshooting Business Manager Connectivity Problems
There’s no way to comprehensively diagnose every possible issue you might be running into while getting setup in your new Business Manager, but I can tell you that the most common questions I get are about people accessing a Facebook Business Page or Ads account from Business Manager, or about putting a Business Page or Ads Account inside Business Manager.
What usually is most confusing is how many steps it takes to begin using Business Manager. You need to first create your Business Manager, then add your Page, Ads account, and Managers to it, and then assign each Page Manager to the Page and Ads account. It doesn’t matter if they are already connected to your Business Page or Ads account outside of Business Manager, they’ll need to be re-added once everything is moved inside Business Manager.
To help you diagnose your issues, here are some steps to walk through:
- Have you added your Business Page to your Business Manager? If you have, you’ll see it listed in the Accounts –> Page section.
- Have you added existing Page Managers to manage your Page from Business Manager? If you have, you’ll see them listed in Accounts –> Pages –> People. They will not be greyed out if they’ve been invited and accepted their Business Manager invite.
- Are you not seeing a new person you are trying to add to manage your Page or Ads account? If you don’t see them listed in Users –> People section, then click the + Add button to add them.
- Have you added your Ads account to your Business Manager? If you have, you’ll see it listed in Accounts –> Ads accounts.
- Have you added your Product Catalog to your Business Manager? If you have, you’ll see it listed in Data Sources –> Catalogs. In this view, be sure to take a look at the people added to your Product Catalog. Tap on the Add People button for those who will need to manage your Product Catalog. Then tap on the right-pointing arrow on the right side of their name to allow them to manage your Product Catalog and runs ads using your Catalog.
- Have you sent an invite but it’s still showing as pending? That means the invite hasn’t been accepted yet. You can always cancel and retry, too.
Check out this post if you’ve been invited to manage a Facebook property in Business Manager.