Facebook Business Manager is a free and centralized platform offered by Meta for businesses and agencies to manage their Pages, ad accounts, team permissions, Pixels, and Instagram accounts in a single place. You can share the platform with your team and others without sharing personal login details.
You can use your personal Facebook account to run pages and ads easily. But you will face two avoidable risks. One is that a single policy violation can damage your personal profile along with the business.
Another risk is that when adding a team member, you need your passwords. Using Facebook Business Manager will help you ignore these risks. We will talk about the definition, differences among Business Suite, Business Manager, and Business Portfolio, benefits, and needs.
What is Facebook Business Manager?
Facebook Business Manager, also known as Meta Business Manager, is a centralized dashboard for you to handle all the company’s assets on Meta. It was launched in 2014 and has become a foundation for advertising and promotion across all the platforms of Meta.
You can manage your pages, ad accounts, product catalogs, user permissions, and Meta Pixels from a secure place. It is free to use and streamlines the marketing and branding process for businesses.
Consider this Business Manager as a vault where your business sits at the top, and every asset sits underneath it and is owned by the business instead of you as an individual. You will grant different people access to specific assets for specific reasons instead of handing over all the assets or passwords.
This ownership entity is the entire point of this Business Manager, where assets belong to the business instead of employees. Agencies or marketing teams can work under the business without owning them, and you have full control over that access.
Facebook Business Manager vs. Meta Business Suite vs. Business Portfolio
Facebook Business Manager, Business Portfolio, and Business Suite are three different things. Facebook Business Manager works in the back and controls ownership, whereas Meta Business Suite and Portfolio are front-end. You use the front end for regular activities such as content posting, messaging, and checking insights. Let’s see the details.
| Facebook Business Manager | Meta Business Suite / Business Portfolio | |
|---|---|---|
| Role | Backend – Full ownership, access, and permissions. | Frontend – Regular posting, messages, insights. |
| Best for | Regular ads, agencies, teams; structural control. | Regular content and community management. |
| Think of it as | The vault with full control. | The desk. |
| Where you go for | Claiming pages, assigning roles, getting agency access. | Scheduling Facebook posts, replying to audience comments. |
Since all the names seem similar due to the Meta word in the name and Meta ownership. Besides, the toolset has been reshuffled and renamed multiple times over the past few years, creating even more confusion among the users. The transition was from Business Manager to Meta Business Suite and, recently, the Meta Business portfolio.
However, despite the shift, the underlying functions remain the same. You have a single platform to manage and control all the assets and access. Simply set the ownership and security in Business Manager and run your engagement and content from Business Suite.
Some people think Business Manager and Ads Manager are the same. However, Ads Manager is a tool used inside your account to create, edit, and monitor ad campaigns.
Do you actually need a Facebook Business Manager?
You will need a Facebook Business Manager when dealing with ads and campaigns and when more than one person handles your marketing. This tool is best for people running ads regularly, especially agencies or brand marketing teams. Check these three situations to match your needs.
- Personal Business, creator, or small business owner – If you run your page for posting and engagement and run no ads, you don’t need a Business Manager. However, once you start to run ads, hire third parties for campaign management, or want to ensure account safety, having a Business Manager is important. It keeps your business separated from your personal profile.
- Freelancer or agency – If you are a freelance marketing expert or agency running ads for your clients, having a Business Manager is a must. It allows you to request access to your client’s business pages and ad accounts without getting their personal account or changing the ownership. When the contract ends, they can easily revoke your access, and you are free from any blame.
- In-house marketing team – If you work in an in-house marketing team or if you have an in-house marketing team, Business Manager is the most useful tool here. This is the right way to give analysts, media buyers, or designers the exact permission and roles needed to perform their duties. It also helps you remove access to employees when they leave the company.
Quick check — If you are any of these, you need Business Manager:
- When more than one person handles your Page or ads.
- You are working with a vendor, contractor, or agency.
- When you run paid Facebook or Instagram ad campaigns.
- Need to separate your personal account from your business.
- Want full control over the access to grant and revoke access anytime without sharing login credentials.
What are the benefits of Facebook Business Manager?
The main benefits of having a Facebook Business Manager are security and control over the business. You can separate your business assets from your personal profiles and grant access to different employees or workers without sharing your password. Here are the detailed benefits.
- Protects your personal account – It allows you to keep your business assets such as pages, pixels, ad account, and portfolio separated from your personal profile. So in case you violate any policies, it does not harm your personal account and other business assets.
- No password sharing – Business Manager allows you to grant access to each person for their own role instead of sharing your password with everyone. This is important because you cannot trust anyone with your password.
- Centralized Dashboard – You can easily manage every Page and ad account from the single dashboard. Imagine having 10 business pages for different brands, all managed from the same dashboard without logging into different profiles each time.
- Makes turnover painless – When you are running a business, you need to provide access to your pages to different people. It becomes risky when they leave the company. Business manager helps you allow or revoke access any time without even sharing login credentials to make the turnover painless.
- Enables secure agency and partner access – You can easily share your assets with a vendor or agency while keeping the ownership in your hands.
- Improved ad targeting – Business Manager allows you to set up Meta Pixels and build custom audiences that are more accurate and well-performing.
How to set up Facebook Business Manager
You can set up a Facebook Business Manager within 15 minutes, and it is free. The process starts with creating the account and goes to verifying, linking the page and ad account, and inviting the team member. Let’s see the details.
Before you start, make sure to keep these things ready:
- Have an old personal Facebook account since new accounts often face restrictions and bans.
- Keep a business email address separate from your personal email. A professional domain works best.
- Note down the business details such as legal name, business address, phone number, and website.
- Have a secured and approved payment method such as a credit card, PayPal, or others for any future ad spend.
Follow these short steps for setup:
- Visit business.facebook.com > Create Account.
- Input your Business Name, your name, and business email. Verify everything.
- Enter the business details like address, website, and phone number.
- Add an existing business Facebook Page with the Business Manager or create a new one.
- Click Add or create your ad account.
- Now, you can run ads yourself or invite team members and assign roles for them.
- Make sure to turn on two-factor authentication.
We have a detailed guide for how to create a Facebook Business Manager.
Unfortunately, people often suffer from bans, restrictions, and suspensions when opening a new Business Manager. Buying an aged and Verified Business Manager can help you avoid this hassle. Don’t know which platform is better to get one? You can check TheSmmExpert to buy a Business Manager and other services to improve your business performance.
Common Facebook Business Manager problems (and quick fixes)
Most Facebook Business Manager occurs due to verification status, ownership conflicts, and permission mismatches. Follow the steps below to avoid such problems.
- “I can’t claim this Page.” – Another Business Manager owned by you or someone else has already owned this page. Ask the current owner to release this page or add this Business Manager as a partner.
- Permission errors – Some people experience permission issues while running ads. It happens when someone gives you access to the page but not the ad account. You can ask them to assign the ads account, or you can add the page to your ad account.
- Delayed Business verification – The business name you provided while creating the account must match the official document. Unclear documentation or mismatched names are the main reasons for the delay.
- Low spending limit – This is a normal problem, and it is not a problem at all. Meta does not trust new accounts yet, leading to a lower daily limit. It will rise slowly once you regularly run ads.
Frequently asked questions
Is Facebook Business Manager free?
Yes, Facebook Business Manager is free for everyone. You don’t have to pay daily, monthly, or any fee for using its features such as asset organization, analytics, reporting, and user management.
Do I need a Business Manager to run Instagram ads?
Yes, you need a Business Manager to run Instagram ads through Meta’s advertising system. You can access full reporting and targeting features from a single platform.
Can I use my personal Facebook account instead?
Yes, you can use your page and run ads from a personal profile. But there are some risks associated with this. You will not have role-based permissions, clean agency access, and security control. Even a major violation can delete your account and assets.
What’s the difference between a Business Manager and Ads Manager?
Facebook Ads Manager is a tool under the Business Manager that you use to build, edit, and track your ad marketing campaigns. Business Manager is a wider platform that holds and controls all the assets.
What if I delete my Business Manager account?
If you delete your Business Manager Account, it will delete and remove all the other assets permanently it owns including the pages and ad accounts. So transfer the ownership of those assets before deleting the Business Manager.
