⚠️ NEVER use a fake name or fake business on your BM. Meta will ban you permanently. Use your real info. They verify it.
Open this URL in your browser. If you're logged into Facebook, you'll see a "Create Account" button. If you already have a BM from a past project, you can use that one — skip to Section 3.
Three fields:
Click "Submit." Meta sends a verification email.
Check your inbox (and spam folder). Click the verification link. You're now inside Business Manager.
💡 Bookmark this: business.facebook.com/latest/home — this is your BM dashboard. You'll live here.
Meta requires business verification to run ads at scale. Upload your business documents (LLC paperwork, EIN letter, or utility bill with business name). This takes 1-5 business days to approve.
⚠️ Don't skip this. Without verification, your ad accounts have lower spending limits and are more likely to get restricted. Do it on day 1 so it's approved by the time you need it.
Your first ad account is for YOU — learning and testing. You'll practice running small campaigns here before touching a client's account. When you get a real client, you'll manage their ad account inside THEIR Business Manager (Section 6 explains how).
Click the blue "Add" dropdown. You'll see three options:
Click "Create a New Ad Account."
Select "My business (Your Agency Name)" for who this ad account is for. Then add yourself as admin with all permissions toggled ON.
💡 Pro tip: Always give yourself full admin access. If something breaks at 11pm, you don't want to be locked out of your own ad account.
For your learning account, add your own credit card. For client accounts, the client adds their card — never put your personal card on a client's ad account.
Client adds their credit card to their ad account. You manage the ads, they pay for the spend. This is the standard setup. You charge your monthly fee separately via Stripe.
You put your card on their ad account and invoice them for spend + your fee. Only do this with trusted clients. Risk: client doesn't pay you back. Some agencies do this for a markup on spend (charge $500 for $300 in ads).
⚠️ Start with Scenario A. Let the client pay Meta directly. You don't want to be chasing clients for ad spend money when you're just starting out.
Every ad runs under a Facebook Page. No page = no ads. Most clients already have one. If they don't, you'll create one for them.
Three options again:
For clients: use "Request Access." Enter the page name or URL. The client gets a notification to approve. Once approved, you can run ads under their page.
Click "Connect Your Instagram Account." The client needs to log in and authorize. This lets you run Instagram ads (Feed, Stories, Reels) under their handle. If they don't have Instagram, skip it — Facebook-only ads still work fine.
The simplest way: the client adds your personal profile directly to their Business Manager. You log into their BM and manage their ads from there. That's it. No complicated partner setups.
Client adds YOU to their Business Manager as a user.
Copy-paste this message to your client:
"Hey! To get started on your ads, I need access to your Facebook ad account. Here's what to do: Go to business.facebook.com → click Business Settings → People → Add → type in my email: [YOUR EMAIL]. Then give me access to your ad account and your Facebook page. Takes 2 minutes. Let me know if you need help!"
More common than you'd think. Most local businesses don't have a Business Manager or an ad account.
Why this way: The client owns their own ad account, page, and data. If you part ways, nothing needs to be transferred. Clean and professional.
Logging in and out of 15 different Business Managers gets annoying fast. At that point, create your own agency BM and have clients add it as a Partner (Business Settings → Partners → Add → your BM ID). This lets you see all client ad accounts in one dashboard. But don't worry about this until you're at scale — the simple method works perfectly for your first 10 clients.
🔴 Using a fake personal account to create BM. Meta checks. They'll ban your BM and every ad account inside it. Use your real Facebook profile.
🔴 Creating multiple BMs to get around a ban. Meta links them by IP, device, and payment method. They'll ban those too. If you get restricted, appeal — don't try to sneak around it.
🔴 Setting the wrong timezone or currency. You can't change currency after creation. Wrong timezone means your daily budgets reset at the wrong time. Double check before clicking create.
🟡 Not enabling two-factor authentication (2FA). Go to Business Settings → Security Center → turn on 2FA for everyone. If someone hacks your BM, they can drain every ad account inside it.
🟡 Giving clients admin access to your BM. Only give clients access to THEIR ad account and THEIR page. Never full BM admin. They could accidentally (or intentionally) mess up your other clients' stuff.
💡 Best practice: Add a second admin to your BM (a trusted partner, co-founder, or even a second email you own). If your main account gets locked out, the second admin can recover everything.
Business Manager has a lot of menus. Here's where to find the stuff you'll actually use:
Open Business Manager right now and tick these off as you go. Don't move to lesson 3.5 until every box is checked.