Are you using Facebook Business manager yet? If you’re not taking advantage of Facebook’s portal for business owners and agencies, you should be!

You have your reasons to procrastinate, we know. Maybe you’re just starting out and don’t want to learn yet another tool.

Or perhaps you’re an established advertiser and already have lots of ad accounts, pages, and assets, with no time left for learning.

Whoever you are, in this article we’ll do our best to convince you that now is the time to make the leap to Facebook Business Manager.

We’ll cover what is Facebook Business Manager, how to get started in it, what the key features are and how Facebook Business Manager will benefit your business.

Are you ready to start?

What Is Facebook Business Manager?

Business Manager allows advertisers to manage their marketing efforts in one place and share access to assets across their team, partner agencies and vendors.”

They simplify this even further down to “manage everything in one place with Business Manager”

Historically, when Facebook advertising started out there was no need for Business Manager as the average business probably just had a couple of ad accounts and Facebook pages and a handful of employees to manage them.

Over time the number of assets available has grown and this is why a management portal is now essential.

That’s actually a good thing in the long run because you’re able to run incredibly sophisticated campaigns on a DIY, inexpensive platform. But that does mean there’s a little learning curve in the short-term.

If you are at your first campaigns, you might want to click here and learn how to get your Facebook ad account, Facebook page, and Business Manager ready to work. If you are ready to dig deeper into how the Facebook Business Manager works. just keep on reading.

BUT FIRST…

If you want to get your Facebook advertising off to the best possible start in 2019 sign up today to our next webinar Facebook Business Manager Mastery.

This unique FREE one-hour training will be covering everything you need to know to achieve success with Business Manager.  

Click on the image above to reserve your spot and the chance to learn from AdEspresso’s Head Of Education Paul Fairbrother.

The 2019 Guide to Facebook Business Manager

Let’s start with the  lefthand menu in Facebook Business Manager and explore the options available in 2019:

As we can see there are 14 types of assets ranging from employees and agency partners to ad accounts, Instagram accounts, Facebook pages, Apps, pixels, product catalogs and many more. There are then a range of settings such as block lists and integrations for lead ads, along with the expected items such as ad account payments and a help guide.

Managing all these in one place from one menu is so much easier than having them spread out across different portals.

As well as all the settings and integrations, next we can look at what tools are available in Business Manager from the menu in the top right.

This example of a Business Manager account menu shows 26 different tools available:

At this stage you might be feeling overwhelmed by the dozens of options available but don’t worry, you don’t have to use all the tools at once, some of them won’t be used at all and others are only accessed on rare occasions.

The important thing to keep in mind is having everything available in just two menus is an order of magnitude easier than having to hunt down different tools across the whole of Facebook.

If ever you get stuck just use the search bar across the top of your account and hey presto, it will find all your available tools, the ad campaigns, adsets and ads, all in one place.

Why Use Facebook Business Manager?

We have selected Six main reasons.

Reason #1: Most Advertisers Now Have To Use It

During the last quarter of 2018, Facebook started making Business Manager compulsory for any accounts using custom audiences created from email lists.

Any advertiser looking to maximize performance should be using email custom audiences, for example, to nurture leads or to get customers to make a repeat purchase.

Alternatively, these lists of warm audiences can be excluded from cold traffic prospecting campaigns.

Although audiences can also be created based on pixel events, these audiences only last for 180 days whereas an email audience can be used forever.

So, if you’re looking to get the most out of your advertising you’ll have to switch to Facebook Business Manager.

Reason #2: It Prevents The Need For Grey Social Media Accounts

Without Facebook Business Manager it’s difficult to separate a personal Facebook profile from the business assets that they control.

This is a recent conversation I had with an agency owner:

It probably happened to you too: your staff wants to keep their personal profile separate, and it gets tricky adding multiple staff to each asset.

This has resulted in companies that don’t use Business Manager creating “grey accounts” where they create a fake personal profile with a shared login for all staff.

This is strictly against Facebook’s terms of service:

We have seen Facebook disable fake profiles which has blocked companies from accessing their own Facebook pages and ad accounts.

Thankfully they managed to regain access but it’s a huge risk, and one that can be easily avoided by switching to Business Manager.

Reason #3: You’ll Get Better Support From Facebook

As we mentioned in the first section, there are dozens of types of assets and tools, all of which need to integrate with each other to work properly.

If ever you have a technical issue it’s likely that the first thing Facebook business support will ask is if you’re using Business Manager.

They’re unlikely to be able to offer in-depth help unless you’re using their recommended tools.

Ask yourself a question:

Do you want to switch to Business Manager now when you can plan a smooth transition or would you rather switch in a hurry when you’re already dealing with technical issues?

Reason #4: The Sooner You Switch, The Easier It Is

If you just have a Facebook page and an ad account then importing them into Facebook Business Manager is easy. However, over time the number of assets your company holds has a habit of rapidly expanding.

Maybe you set up an Instagram account, then create a Facebook pixel, next add some new employees and so on.

Even with just a few assets, it can get complicated working out which employee needs which level of access to what assets.

In extreme cases, we’ve seen franchise businesses trying to move 100 Facebook pages, 100 ad accounts and hundreds of staff into Business Manager and it becomes a complex and time-consuming project.

If you make the switch now it’ll be far easier than making a more complicated transition in the future.

Reason #5: It’s More Secure

Marketing tends to be an industry with a high staff-turnover and often agencies are engaged for occasional short-term projects. Over time this can cause security risks with ex-employees still having access.

By having all assets, employees, and agencies in one portal it’s possible to do a monthly audit to ensure only the right people have the correct levels of access.

The key here is to have one member of staff in charge of Facebook Business Manager and to have them schedule a monthly audit.

Every time we take on a new client we find their employee and agency list needs a spring clean, it’s not enough to be using Business Manager you have to have to intentionally do a monthly check.

Facebook Business Manager includes a Security Centre where you can require two-factor authentication for all employees (recommended) and it will also help your auditing by letting you know if any employees are inactive.

Reason #6: It’s Free

Not only is there no charge for using Facebook Business Manager, but better still it enables you to access Enterprise level tools which are now free for all Facebook advertisers.

For instance, there’s the Facebook Analytics tool where you can create an Event Source Group (ESG) consisting of pixels, pages, and apps, allowing you to combine several data sources together into one analytics dashboard:

One Last Step To Success

Did we convince you that you must get started with Facebook Business Manager right now? The next section will get you started in six easy steps and show you a few tricks to maximize your advertising results.

But if you really want to start the new year with a bang, then mark this date on your calendar:

Thursday 17 January 2019 @10:1m (Pacific Time) and click on the image below to attend a FREE one-hour training on how to achieve success with Business Manager:

This live session will be run by AdEspresso’s Head Of Education Paul Fairbrother who handles millions of dollars of ad spend for clients every year and who uses Business Manager on a daily basis handling dozens of assets.

How to Get Started in the Facebook Business Manager

Step 1: Create Your Business Manager Account

Head on over to https://business.facebook.com/ in order to set up your first business account.

Once there, you should see a big blue button that appropriately says “Create Account.”  😯 

Next, it’ll have you log in to Facebook just like usual:

Then, create your Facebook Business Manager account by typing in your business name. This name will be visible to everyone and can’t contain any special characters (sorry, startup hipsters).

Next, create your business profile by typing in your name and email address.

Pretty smooth sailing so far, right?!

Once you signup, you are launched directly into the Business Manager app that will look something like this:

Here is your dashboard, where you can access everything about your business.

The first step they will prompt is to create or ‘claim’ your Facebook business page and ad accounts.

Look in the upper right-hand corner for a button that says “Business Settings.”

If you already have a Facebook business page or ad account setup you should see it in the middle of the screen now. Otherwise, look for the “Setup Guide” text link in the upper right-hand side.

Next, they’ll send you to a starting point to manage everything related to your Business Manager.

Here you can get started with ad accounts, pages, and people. They’ve simplified these options a lot, so it should be self-explanatory to see what you should be doing next (i.e. “Create Page” for first-time visitors, or “Claim Page” if you already have one up, etc.).

Simply point, click, and follow the on-screen instructions.

Step 2: Create an Ad Account

Now let’s create a new ad account inside the Business Manager.

The Ad Account options will be in the upper row under your Business Manager Settings. Simply look over to the right-hand side for the button that says “Create Ad Account.”

Next, it will ask you to fill in some basic information like your ad account name, what business manager profile you want to connect it to, the timezone of your business, and the currency you use:

Once you fill out your business information, select the people you want to add to this new ad account:

Here you can also select default roles for each individual. So that means you might want to give different access levels to one person who’s an outside vendor vs. your in-house marketing manager.  

Don’t worry, you can always edit this later. We’ll also show you how to add more people (employees, admins, advertisers, and more) in the next few sections.

Once you select the initial users to add, hit “Save Changes” and your account is created like so:

The next step is to setup a new method of payment before you can start advertising.

You should see links in the middle of the page to click and edit payment method details. Or you can look over to the upper right-hand corner to return to some of the information we just setup (like people).

Now let’s add a new payment method. Look for the text link “View Payment Methods” as shown in the picture above. It will bring you to a blank page that confirms there are no payment methods currently available.

So click on the “Add Payment Method” button to begin:

Once you enter the appropriate details, your Facebook ad account will be almost ready to start advertising.

The only thing holding you back now is a Facebook Business Page (if you don’t have it already). So let’s set one up.

Step 3: Create a Facebook Business Page

Head back to the Setup Guide section of the Business Manager and look for “Create Page” to get started creating one from scratch.

First, you’ll need to choose a Category for your page:

Go ahead and type in your Page Name (for the Company) and select a business category (e.g. Consulting Agency).

Click “Create Page” to you know, create your page, and Facebook will automatically link it back to your Business Manager, too. (Nice guys.)

Then, you’ll also be redirected back to your Business Dashboard to do one of two things next:

If you click on the first choice, you can follow the link over to customize your new Facebook Page.

Let’s give a look to the second option.

Step 4: Add Business Manager Admins and Employees

Adding people (employees, partners, vendors, etc.) to your new page or ad account is incredibly easy once you’re already inside the Business Manager.

Start by navigating back to your Setup Guide and look for people (listed towards the bottom):

From here, either click on “Add Admin” or “Add Employee” (or both) to pull up the following dialogue box:

The Employee and Admin roles will have different access levels. How you organize them is entirely up to your own business and relationship status (no, not that one 🙄 ) with these people.

Adding an email will move you through a few steps to assign each new person to a specific page or ad account you just created.

Here, you can also select different roles for each Page in this account.

Now go ahead and repeat the same steps for ad accounts and product catalogs in this same dialogue box.

Step 5: Request Access or Claim a Page/Ad Account

If you have an existing ad account or page linked to another business manager account but want to transfer it, you can claim that ad account or page through this Setup Guide.

Additionally, if you are an agency that runs pages and ad accounts for clients, you can request access to help manage it on their behalf.
Simply hit the “Claim” button, in either case, to try and take ownership of it.

Then, you’ll have to locate the ad account ID and type it in the text box:

If you’re already an admin of the page, you can also search for it by the page URL to claim ownership of it.

Next, you’ll request access to the ad account by either doing one of these two things:

You can simply type in the page name or URL and the admin of that page will get a confirmation to add you for access.

Okay, now you should have either received access, claimed, or created a page and ad account. You should have also added the necessary people to your business, too.

Go ahead and proceed to the next section when you finish with all of those steps.

The Basics of the Facebook Business Manager

Let’s discuss how the Facebook Business Manager works now that you’ve got your ad accounts and the page linked.

Login to your Business Manager Dashboard look for the menu in the upper left-hand corner of the screen:

This will expand the entire menu of items you’ll typically work within the Facebook Business Manager, split into columns based on your objectives (e.g. Plan, Create & Manage, Measure & Report, Assets, Settings).

This menu is like your ‘jumping off’ point because you can do almost anything from here.

You can create or manage new ad campaigns. You can edit or add new apps. You can create new page posts. All of your data, analytics, and conversion information will be a click away. And you can even manage audiences, pixels, product catalogs, and videos.

Here’s how you can create new audiences for your ad campaigns.

How to Create New Facebook Ad Audiences

Open up the Business Manager menu and look under “Assets” for the Audiences text link.

Here we can choose between creating three new audiences:

Let’s take a look at how to create each one now.

Custom Audience Setup

Custom audiences are most often used to connect with the people who have already shown an interest in your business, service, or product.

You can create a custom audience from a contact list, previous or ongoing website traffic, or mobile app usage.

Here’s how to get started.

A Customer File custom audience consists of current/existing customers. You can target ads to these customers on Facebook and Instagram (and the audience network).

If you have MailChimp, you’re in luck! There’s already an existing integration so you can instantly connect your account. Otherwise, you’ll most likely need to upload a file of customer data (like emails or phone numbers) that Facebook will then use to match against their user database.

Here’s how it looks when you go to setup your upload a customer list:

Here you can simply copy and paste your list or upload a .CSV/TXT file. Under the identifiers section, you can highlight over each one to see an example to inform your file structure:

Next, upload your list or paste it into the box and hit “Next” to map your identifiers.

Hopefully, this should have automatically mapped fields for you. If everything is good to go, you should see a green check mark to signify the right format.

Next, click “Upload & Create” and you’re done.

If you click “Website Traffic” from the main custom audiences menu, you will simply have to install a pixel code on the website pages you want to track visitors. Some content management systems (CMS) will have an existing integration setup so that it only takes a few clicks. Otherwise, you’ll have to copy and paste some code to make it happen. If you’re super smart, you’ll use Pixel Caffeine.

Next, you can adjust the individual audience settings based on your preferences.

When finished, you’re all set!

Lookalike Audience

Select “Create a Lookalike Audience” now to replicate one of your existing saved ones.

To create a lookalike audience, you need to have an existing audience that Facebook can then use to find ‘lookalike’ targets that similar to those already on your lists. So start by selecting the individual custom audience or Page as the Source for your new lookalike audience.

Then you can also select the locations to target and the audience sizes (which will determine how specific or small the targeting gets).

When satisfied, simply hit “Create Audience” and you’re all set.

Saved Audience Setup

Navigate back to Asset Library and go to Audiences to create a saved audience.

The third and final choices could be “Create a Saved Audience.”

Here, you can create an audience from scratch choosing what locations, age range, demographics, and interests to target.

The Detailed Targeting will allow you to drill down into Demographics, Interests, Behaviors, and more to make your targeting even more granular.

These detailed targeting options will include values for job title, income ranges, interests, hobbies, and more.

For example, you can start by selecting what someone does for a living:

Then you can narrow the audience further by excluding segments of people.

For example, you can add extra criteria on to the original job title to select only people who make over a certain amount of money each year:

In this case, we only want to target attorneys with an income of at least $150-249k.

And then you can take it another step further by excluding an additional segment  based on the type of lawyer you’d like to target:

When ready, hit “Create Audience” and you’re all set to go.

Setting Up Pixels

Head back to the Business Manager dashboard and select Pixels under Asset Library.

In the upper left-hand corner, you should see a small button that says “Set Up Pixel.” Click and proceed to the next step.

You can install the pixel code one of two ways:

Click on one or the other to follow the instructions.

Now, here’s where the fun begins: Event code.

Event what?!

On a serious note: Events are actions taken by customers or users on your website. These are typically ‘soft’ goals, or micro conversions, that don’t always result in a macro (revenue generating) conversions.

The event code you install will let you track those actions for advertising purposes, things like when a product is added to cart, new pageview, etc. Here’s an example from Facebook to give you an idea of what your code will look like with events.

Where:

1 = Your website’s current code. You will paste the Pixel code between the two head tags of your web pages.

2 = Your FB pixel base code that you just copy and pasted

3 = Additional, standard event code.

Here are the nine standard event codes you can add to your Facebook Pixel code depending on which page you are customizing for:

And that’s it! Now get to work.

Creating Product Catalog in the Business Manager

To create a product catalog, head to Assets in the Business Manager menu and click on “Product Catalogs.”

On the next screen, click on “Create Catalogs” to get started.

Here you will name your catalog and choose the appropriate type (e.g. Products, Hotels, Flights, Destinations, etc. :

For this example, we chose “Products.”  Next, you will be asked to add a product feed.

Go ahead and enter your feed name, currency, and upload type (single vs. recurring uploads):

Then, hit next and get ready to upload your file.

Since you likely don’t have a product catalog setup or haven’t done one before, here are some basic guidelines below to help you format the spreadsheet properly. These fields are required for every product catalog.

The good news is that many big eCommerce platforms, like Magento, BigCommerce, or Shopify for example, will have an app, extension, or feature to help support these product catalogs.

Next, you can add additional detailed items for each different product specs.

Once you’ve got a spreadsheet that looks something like this one below, go ahead and upload to get started.

The Facebook Business Manager can seem daunting when you first log in.

There’s a typically a slight learning curve before you first get the hang of it.

But mastering the ins and outs of the Business Manager will set you up to be able to run all sorts of sophisticated Facebook ad campaigns.

You’ll be able to better promote your page, better target new ad campaigns, and as a result, generate a higher ROI faster, too.