Our guide to Facebook business manager

Meta Business Manager, the social media management platform previously known as Facebook Business Manager, is the go-to tool for managing Instagram, Facebook marketing and Facebook advertising activities. 

In this complete guide to Meta Business Manager we’ll explain:

• What Facebook Business Manager (aka Meta Business Manager) is
• The difference between Facebook Business Manager and Meta Business Suite
• The benefits of Facebook Business Manager (now Meta Business Manager)
• How to create a Facebook Business Manager account

Meta is the name of Facebook’s parent company, the owners of not only Facebook, but also Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. As a result, Facebook Business Manager has changed names and now goes by Meta Business Manager. Because people still search for and refer to the Facebook marketing tool by its former name, we’ll refer to Facebook Business Manager and Meta Business Manager interchangeably in this guide.

Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about Meta Business Manager. 

What is Facebook Business Manager (aka Meta Business Manager)?

As the name suggests, companies use Meta Business Manager to manage business activity on Facebook and other Meta-owned properties such as Instagram.

You and your team members can use Facebook Business Manager to:

• Create Instagram and Facebook ads for your small business
• Manage Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts and notifications for your local business
• Add new ad accounts, new pages and new Instagram accounts as needed
• Share access to these accounts with your organization’s colleagues and vendors without using your personal Facebook account
• Manage permissions to collaborate as a team without having to request access to be friends on Facebook — add people easily as needed and grant employee access seamlessly
• Track your company performance across multiple Facebook Pages and ad accounts

Is Facebook Business Manager the same as Meta Business Suite?

Not exactly. Facebook Business Manager is now Meta Business Manager. Meta Business Suite is a separate tool from Meta Business Manager that allows companies to bring their Facebook, Instagram and Facebook Messenger tools together and manage them in one place as a team.

Facebook is transitioning Facebook Business Manager users over to Meta Business Suite, but you have the option to revert back to using Meta Business Manager if you prefer. 

What is Meta Ads Manager?

Meta also offers other Facebook marketing tools, such as Meta Ads Manager, to promote your business on Facebook. Use Meta Ads Manager to manage Facebook ad accounts and launch and manage ad campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and the Facebook Audience Network. 

Meta Ads Manager offers real-time insights about campaign performance, including information about how many conversions your campaign is generating. You can use Meta Ads Manager to reach custom audiences, such as website visitors who have spent time browsing your product catalogs.

You must have a Facebook Business Page to use Ads Manager. Once you do, you will have an Ads Manager account by default. To start using it:

• View your Facebook ad account settings 
• Set up a payment method
• Learn about what’s involved in creating Facebook ads and launch your first ad campaign

Note: You can manage ads within Meta Business Manager and Meta Business Suite, but this is a stand-alone option for managing Facebook advertising alone.

What are the benefits of Facebook Business Manager?

Here are the top reasons marketers use a Facebook Business Manager account (now Meta Business Manager) among their digital marketing and social media marketing tools.

1: Maintain control over your Facebook and Instagram accounts while collaborating with team members

Share admin access easily or, if you’re part of an agency, manage your client’s pages seamlessly. This one-stop shop can be used to manage your business assets including:

• Facebook Pages
• Instagram accounts
• Meta pixels (formerly known as Facebook pixels)
• Instagram and Facebook ad accounts

2: Save time managing multiple business assets, Facebook Business Pages and Facebook Ad accounts from one platform

Collaborate across teams and across accounts in one place. Add ad accounts, new pages and Instagram accounts as needed.

3: Maintain personal privacy

No need to use your personal profile to manage your Facebook and Instagram accounts. Your colleagues will only be able to see your name, work email address and the Facebook Pages and ad accounts you have permissions to access, according to Meta Business Help Center.

4: Ensure security

Use Meta Business Manager’s Security Center to add and remove admins as needed, check your business verification status and require two-factor authentication. 

How to create a Facebook Business Manager account

Follow these step-by-step instructions to get started and set up Facebook Business Manager today.

Step 1: Create a Facebook profile, if you don’t already have one 

You need a Facebook account to create a Facebook Business Manager account. This is to confirm your identity.

Step 2: Create a Meta Business Manager account

Follow these steps to create your Meta Business Manager account:

1. Visit business.facebook.com/overview
2. Click or tap “Create Account”
3. Enter your business name, your personal name and work email address
4. Click or tap “Next”
5. Enter your business information and submit

Step 3: Add people you work with to your Meta Business Manager account

Assign whatever permissions you’d like, so they can access the appropriate business assets based on their role. 

Step 4: (Optional) Initiate the business verification process within the Security Center

1. Navigate to the Security Center within Business Manager
2. Click or tap “Start Verification”
3. Enter your business info.
4. Click or tap “Next”
5. Select the right business from the list that will appear or select “None of these match” if applicable
6. Confirm everything is correct
7. Receive a verification code via text message to your business phone number, a phone call to your business phone number or email to your business email 
8. Enter your verification code
9. Click or tap “Submit”

How to add Facebook Business Pages to your Meta Business Manager account

Step 1: Before you can add pages to your Meta Business Manager, do these things first

• Make sure you have a primary Facebook Page where you can request access 
• You need to have been an admin on the Facebook Page for more than seven days; if not, you need to request access to the page.
• You must be an admin within Facebook Business Manager
• Confirm the Facebook Page you want to add is not owned by another business
• If your Facebook Page is linked to a business Instagram account, be sure to add your Instagram account to Meta Business Manager as well.

Step 2: Head to Business Settings

1. Click or tap “Accounts”
2. Click or tap “Pages”
3. Select “Add” from the dropdown menu
4. Select “Add a Page”
5. Add your Facebook business name or Facebook Page URL
6. Click or tap “Add Page” 
7. Your business’s page name should appear
8. Add people to manage this page

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