What is Meta Business Manager on Facebook? (Renamed to Meta Business Portfolio 2024)

‍“I don’t know how to set up a Meta Business Manager account and if it’s even necessary.”

Facebook is confusing, and to add more to the confusion, there are Meta Business Manager (now called Business Portfolio), Business Suite, Ad Manager, Commerce Manager, Events Manager, etc.

You’re confused about which ones you need to set up and whether you need Facebook Business Manager, Meta Business Suite or both.

If this is you (the business owner) or a client you (the freelancer/agency) recently onboarded — we’ve got you covered. 

This ultimate guide on Meta Business Manager (Portfolio) answers all your questions. It gives you a step-by-step walkthrough to easily set up your (or your client’s) account and use it daily to manage Facebook business assets.

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What is Meta Business Manager on Facebook?

Meta Business Manager, also known as Facebook Business Manager (and renamed to Business Portfolio in 2024) is Meta’s free tool that allows businesses to manage all their Facebook/Meta assets from one place and control who has access to the account.

Business Portfolio's key features:

• Ads Manager: to run paid ads for Facebook and Instagram
• Meta Business Suite portal: to create/share content for Facebook page and Instagram accounts
• Instagram & WhatsApp Manager
• Commerce Manager: to manage your online product catalog
• Events Manager: to track audience behavior and access data sets
• Insights: to review your campaigns’ performance

For business owners, you can use your Meta Business Portfolio to manage your marketing channels; Facebook business page, Instagram account, WhatsApp chats, paid ad campaigns, Facebook pixels, online e-commerce store, events, website domains, etc., from one dashboard — no need to login to multiple accounts to keep track. 

For freelancers/agencies, a Facebook Business Portfolio allows you to keep track of all your Facebook or Instagram clients in one place while keeping their data separate.

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What's the difference between Meta Business Manager (Portfolio) and Meta Business Suite?

Meta/Facebook Business Manager (Business Portfolio) is the platform where you can manage all of your Meta assets in one place, but doesn’t give you the right tools to create and schedule content. 

Meta Business Suite is a simplified front-end management platform for managing Facebook and Instagram content. You can perform tasks like creating/scheduling posts for your Facebook and Instagram accounts and responding to messages or comments. 

Here we explain the differences in more detail: 

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So, which should you use?

While Meta Business Suite lacks in other parts, it’s a perfect social media manager for creating/managing and keeping track of content. The best way to get the most out of both tools is to use them in combination. 

For the full breakdown of features in each tool, check out this post: Meta Business Manager vs. Business Suite

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Why do you need a Meta/Facebook Business Manager (Business Portfolio)?

Creating a Meta Business Manager account can feel overwhelming, but having one simplifies everything and unlocks many benefits for the business owner and freelancer/agency. Let’s see how.

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For the business owner:

Here are the benefits of having a Facebook Business Manager (Portfolio) for a business owner:

• Centralized management: A Business Portfolio simplifies asset management, allowing you to review all your business assets from one dashboard.
• Keep track of business activities: If you’ve outsourced to a freelancer/agency or assigned tasks to team members, a Facebook Business Manager account gives you detailed insights and reports for all activities. 
• Receive notifications: You would also want to be notified of all significant activities happening through your account; for example, getting real-time updates on a vital ad campaign can save resources as you’ll help iterate on it.
• Separate personal and professional activities: With Meta Business Portfolio, you can keep your personal Facebook account separate from your business. Your friends, conversations, and other activities are unaffected because you perform all professional activities using Business Portfolio.
• Add or remove people hassle-free: Makes adding and removing team members, freelancers, and agencies hassle-free by giving you a 2-click option to invite people. 
• Secure important information: Facebook Business Manager gives simple options to invite people to manage your business assets with limited permissions so you don’t have to share usernames and passwords and risk account security. 

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For the agency/freelancer: 

Here are the benefits of having a Facebook Business Manager account for an agency/freelancer:

• Get access to client’s assets: To get access to your client’s Meta assets, you need a Meta Business Portfolio.
• Manage multiple clients: Facebook Business Portfolio makes it easy to work with multiple clients. You can easily switch between different client accounts and keep things organized.
• Separate billing: If you’re running ads for your client, separate assets means you can separate billing when each client's Ads Manager account is connected to their billing information.
• Separate data sets & tracking: Meta Business Portfolio has brilliant data set and tracking tools that collect insights on audience behavior to help you run better ad campaigns. As someone working with many clients, you wouldn’t want client data to get mixed up.

Now that you know the benefits of Facebook Business Portfolio, let's walk through the step-by-step process of setting up an account. 

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How to set up a Meta Business Manager account

First, you need a regular Facebook account to set up a Business Manager account. 

Worry not; your personal account will be separate; you just need login info to open a business account. So, if you don’t have a Facebook account, create one here. 

If you already have a personal Facebook account, head to Meta for Business page. 

Step 1: Click on “Get Started” and select “Login with Facebook”

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 The next screen will ask you to log in to your personal Facebook account. 

Step 2: Give your business a name, enter your full name and business email address. You’ll receive a verification email. After verifying your email address, you'll be taken to your Facebook Business Suite account.

Step 3: Meta Business Suite and Business Portfolio are connected. To switch from Business Suite to Business Manager (Portfolio) click “Settings” and then scroll down to choose “Business Settings.”

Step 4: This will take you to a new window — your Meta Business Manager dashboard. 

That’s it, that’s how you usually create a Business Manager account.

HOT TIP: With Leadsie you can can set up a Meta Business Assets in a couple of clicks! Don't believe us? Here's how:  

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How to use Meta Business Manager (Portfolio): Step-by-step walkthrough

After creating your Meta business account, the next steps are to connect your business assets and learn how to use the dashboard.

Use this step-by-step walkthrough to do just that.

Users

On the left sidebar, you’ll see “Users.” You’ll add members to your Business Manager using this option. After clicking the dropdown, it expands into People, Partners, and System users. 

• You’ll use “People” to add individual team members or freelancers. 
• You’ll use “Partners” to add other businesses like agencies. 
• You’ll use “System users” to add software or servers. 

Typically, you’ll use People/Partners to grant access. “System users” is perfect for businesses with a Facebook app. 

How to add individual people to your Business Manager (Portfolio)

You can assign two types of access to users: 

• Partial access: You choose the tasks with limited permissions 
• Admin access: Full control over all assets

Step 1: Choose a role you want to give them, then click “Add People.”

Step 2: Enter their email address, click Next.

Step 3: Choose partial or full access, then assign accounts and permissions. Click “Invite.”

And it’s done! 

How to add Partners to your Business Manager (Portfolio)

If you’re adding agencies to your Business dashboard:

Step 1: Navigate to the Partners tab, click “Add,” click “Give a partner access to your assets.”

Step 2: Ask your partner to share their Partner Business ID, which they can find in the Business Info column.

Step 3: Once you get the ID, paste it into the next screen, click "Next".

Step 4: Assign tasks and save changes.

Accounts 

Below “Users” is “Accounts,” — where you’ll connect all your business assets and assign individual permissions.

How to add/request access to a Facebook page

Click on “Pages,” then “Add.”

• If you don’t have a Facebook page, choose “Create a new page.”
• If you have a Facebook page, choose “Add a page.”
• If you’re a freelancer/agency requesting access to a client’s Facebook page, choose “Request access to a page.”

Let’s say you want to add a Facebook Page, so you click that. On the next screen, you’ll enter the Facebook page’s URL you want to add and click “Add Page.”

If you want to request access to your client’s Facebook page, click “Request access to a page” and enter the page’s URL.

How to add/request access to an Ad Manager account

To create ads, you need a Facebook Ad account. Go to “Ad accounts” and click “Add.”

• Click “Add an ad account” to add your existing ad account.
• Click “Request access to an ad account” if you’re running ads for a client.
• Click “Create a new ad account” if you don’t have one.

You’ll be asked to enter your Ad Manager ID if you choose the first option. 

You can find your Ad Manager ID by logging in to your existing ad account. 

If you’re requesting access to your client’s ad account, choose the second option. Now choose a Facebook page for which you want to run ads and enter your Ad Manager ID.

You can also ask your client to add you as a Partner and assign ad account permissions. Finally, you can create a new ad account by entering your details.

How to add/request access to an Instagram page

You can only manage your Instagram page with Business Suite if you add it to your Business Manager. Navigate to “Instagram accounts” and click “Add.”

Then connect your Instagram account using your login password. 

If you want access to your client’s Instagram account, ask them to add you as a partner and assign assets.

How to add/request access to a Whatsapp account

If you do WhatsApp marketing, you can connect and manage it on Business Manager. Go to “WhatsApp accounts” and click “Add WhatsApp account.”

Enter your mobile number associated with your WhatsApp business account. 

To request access to your client’s WhatsApp assets, ask them to add you as a partner and assign WhatsApp. 

How to set up a Business assets groups

Business asset groups are a fantastic tool for business owners who outsource more than one asset to freelancers or agencies. You can create groups and assign them to relevant users. 

For example, if one freelancer manages Facebook & Instagram ads, you can group them and grant only the required permissions.  

Similarly, you can group marketing assets and assign content-only permissions if an agency looks after content. 

Here’s how to create a Business asset group. Go to “Business asset group” and create a new one.

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Choose how you want to organize your work. For example, if you’re an agency requesting access to your client’s assets, choose “Agency” and so on.

Name your asset group, select assets to put in a group, and click “Next.”

Choose “People,” assign permissions, and create a folder. 

And if you want to request access to a Business asset group, you need to ask the client to add you as a member. 

Leadsie simplifies getting access to Meta assets even more — just share your Leadsie link with your client, they assign tasks, and you get access. It’s that simple!

Data sources

Data sources are the short version of Events Manager, where you can track the actions of your audience on third-party apps or websites. 

For example, by creating an event, you can check your monthly offline sales from your physical store. 

Or, by creating an event to track “Thank you” page visits, you can analyze how many of your ad campaigns are bringing subscribers to your email list.

Events can help target the audience better. By understanding their behavior on third-party apps, you can create better ad creatives and improve your conversion rate.

How to create/request access to a catalogue

Using Catalogues, you can list your products online on Facebook. The benefit of creating a catalogue is that your products will appear in front of your Facebook audience and also in Google shopping and dynamic product ads. 

To create a catalogue, click “Catalogues” and “Add.”

• If you’re listing your products, choose “Create a new catalogue.”
• If you’re managing your client’s products, choose “Request access to a catalogue.”

In case you’re listing your products, then after choosing to create a new catalogue, you’ll be asked to name it and choose a category.

  Next, choose people and assign permissions. 

You can view your catalogues on Commerce Manager.

If you’re requesting access to your client’s catalogue, choose “Request access to a catalogue” and then ask your client to go to Catalogues and assign you as a partner by entering your Business Manager ID. 

How to set up a Facebook pixel for your data source

Setting pixels to track your audience behavior helps you with retargeting. With pixels, you can show your ads to one person in multiple interactions, which increases your touchpoints with them and helps in increasing your conversion rate.

To add pixels to your website, click “Pixels” then “Add.” Now, give your pixel a name and enter the website you want to track.

Install the base code on your website. You need to paste this code on the header section of the root file of your website. If you’re using WordPress, use a plugin like Insert Headers and Footers.

After installing the base code, set up an event code. For that, open your website using the events setup tool, select where you’d like to set up an event, and it’ll be added automatically. 

How to create offline event sets

You can create offline event sets to group the collected audience engagement data through third-party apps. Click “Add” and name the event set. 

Choose an ad account, assign assets to people you want to, and it’s done. 

What is a dataset?

A dataset is a group of event data collected from various data sources such as websites, mobile applications, and physical shops. You can create datasets on Events Manager. 

How to create a custom conversion

Custom conversion allows you to track critical metrics like sales, purchases, abandoned carts, etc. For example, only if the user lands on the Thank you page, the trigger counts it as a purchase (event).

Here’s a Facebook guide on how to create a custom conversion. 

What are shared audiences?

By creating shared audiences, you can allow other people (freelancers or agencies) to access them. This way, they won’t have to build an audience from scratch — they can use the audience you shared. 

Or, for a new campaign, you can create a lookalike audience using your other campaign's audience that interacted before.   

What are business creative folders?

Business creative folders are a simple way to organize your ad creatives. For campaigns using more than one creative, you can group them in a folder and name them. You can also organize based on month, holiday, sales, etc. 

Brand safety and suitability

On Brand safety and suitability, you get two options: add your domain (request access to a client’s domain) and create block lists.

Adding a domain helps you claim your business on Facebook. To add yours, click Add and “Create a new domain.”

Copy/paste the meta-tag on your website’s root file header section to verify.

To request access, choose the second option, enter your client’s domain, and click “Request access.”

Leadsie also allows you to request access to your client’s Facebook datasets and domain.

Using Blocklists, you can restrict places where you don’t want to show ads, for example, reels, in-stream videos, Instagram feeds, etc. If you want to restrict certain Facebook pages and profiles, you can also include them in a blocklist.

In the Registrations tab, you can manage any new Facebook pages you create; in Integrations, you can manage Facebook apps. 

Billing and payments

The Billing and payments section will take you to another window where you can review your ad accounts, add payment methods, and analyze payment activity.

Security centre

Keeping your account safe is your responsibility; therefore, you must make sure you use all security settings Meta provides. 

First, you should enable two-factor authentication which adds another layer of security to your Business Manager account. After enabling it, the business admins must enter a security code if they try to log in from a new device or browser. 

To enable two-factor authentication, go to Facebook’s personal settings > Security and log in from your personal account.

You can choose one of the options (authentication app recommended) to secure your account. 

Second, add another admin to help restore your account if you get locked out. Adding another admin is similar to inviting people. Make sure to choose a trusted partner and follow these steps: 

• Enter their email address 
• Grant them admin access (complete control)
• Assign them permissions to accounts
• Invite

Third, you should verify your business on Facebook to access certain Meta developer features. You should have a legal business registered in a local entity to be eligible for business verification. Follow these steps to verify your business.

Finally, turn on the trusted domain email option to ensure that only people with your website business email address can log in without requiring your approval. 

 You’ll also see Notifications on the left sidebar. That’s where you’ll receive all notifications about the activities happening on your Business Manager.

And on Requests, you’ll review access requests from freelancers, agencies, and team members.  

Business Info

In the Business Info column, you’ll review and edit your business details. You can also find your Business Manager ID at the top. You can add your business name, website, tax ID, business mobile number, and more. 

To access all Facebook features, you should verify your business first. After you click “View Details,” it will take you to the Security Centre, where you’ll see more info for verifying your business. 

If not already done, enable two-factor authentication and verify your email address to secure your account.

So, this was a step-by-step walkthrough on how to set up your Business Manager and use it regularly. 

Business Manager connects many tools in one dashboard, so you’ll see no options for creating and editing. To be able to plan your ad campaigns, ecommerce store, events, etc., without any limitations, you’d want to navigate to their respective managers from the Business Manager menu.

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How to request access to a client’s Meta Business Manager assets

If you’re a freelancer/agency who’ve recently onboarded a new client and you’ll be working on their Facebook business assets, then there are two ways you can request access to their Business Manager assets:

• Requesting access through Business Manager
• Sharing your Leadsie link

1. Request access through Business Manager

To access your client’s assets, navigate to the Partners tab, choose the second option, and click “Add.”

Make sure you have the asked things and click “Get Started.”

Enter your client details like their email, Business Manager ID, etc, and choose your business role.

Next, request access to assets you’d like to manage. Review everything and send it. 

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Your client will receive a notification on their email and Facebook Business Manager. Once they confirm your request, you’ll get access. 

This method is straightforward, but it has two disadvantages: 

• Your client must have a Facebook Business Manager account set up.
• You should know their Business Manager ID. 

And if you lack one of the things, you can’t request access to their assets which can affect in onboarding them. That’s why we recommend the Leadsie way.

2. Share a Leadsie Link

Simply log in to your Leadsie dashboard and copy your link. In your case, it’s the  “Manage” access link, as you need access to their assets.

Now share your Leadsie link with your client. They’ll review your request and grant you access. 

Isn’t it easy and quick? That’s how by oversimplifying the process, Leadsie helps you onboard clients quickly. 

After your request is approved in both methods, you need to assign the assets to work on them. If you use Leadsie, you get assigned automagic-ally, here's how it works. 🪄

Follow this tutorial to learn how to self-assign yourself manually if you're doing it via Meta/Facebook: 

Meta Business Manager (Portfolio) best practices

If you want to leverage Facebook Business Manager to the full extent, use Event Manager, Datasets, and Ads effectively, you have to make sure your account doesn’t get banned. Here are some of the best practices to follow:

Enable two-factor authentication

As the account owner and freelancer/agency, you must protect your and your client’s assets. Unfortunately, there has been news of many Facebook Business Manager accounts getting hacked. 

You should enable two-factor authentication to avoid getting your account hacked or restricted. This way, whenever you or a team member tries to log in from a new browser, they must enter the security code first.  

Regularly review all settings

You could lose ownership if you leave your account unused for several days. So, you must regularly review all settings and keep the activity going through your Facebook Business Manager account.

Use Business asset groups 

Outsourcing different assets and permissions to many people can make it messy. Business asset groups make organizing the work easy. You create groups, name them based on the freelancer/agency and assign only the required permissions.

Regularly clean inactive members

If some of your team members have quit working, there’s no reason they should have access to your assets for various security reasons. So, you should regularly review all the team members' activity and filter inactive members. 

Follow the rules to avoid getting your account restricted

Facebook ad accounts getting restricted is frequent, but recovering it is a struggle. If you don’t want your ad account to get restricted, you must follow the best practices — from verifying your ownership to optimizing ad campaigns.

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Meta Business Manager (Portfolio) FAQs

How many Business Manager accounts can I create?

You can only set up 2 Business accounts as a regular Facebook user. 

How to find your Meta Business Manager ID?

You can find your Meta Business Manager ID in the Business info section.

Or you can also find it in your Facebook business account URL: https://business.facebook.com/settings/business-resource-groups?business_id=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

How to verify your ads account?

You must submit your selfie and a government-issued ID to verify your ads account. Verification is vital if you want to run ads. 

How to regain access to your Facebook Business page? 

You can submit an admin dispute request to regain lost access to a Facebook Business page. We’ve nailed down the process of regaining access to a Facebook page, follow if you want to regain access.

When to use Meta Business Suite?

The best use of Meta Business Suite is to manage Facebook and Instagram content. You can create and schedule content, respond to messages, comments, and review insights. 

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Set up your (client’s) Meta Business Manager in 2 minutes

Manually setting up a Meta Business Manager is a tedious process, and it makes sense if you want to avoid doing that. The good news is, you don’t have to do that because Leadsie simplified everything for you. 

You simply share your Leadsie link, and your client creates their account and grants you access. Leadsie saves you the headache of back-and-forth emails to onboard new clients. 

It’s more secure for everyone and saves a ton of time! Give it a try with our 14-day free trial…enter your email in the box below! 

Even if your client doesn’t have a Facebook Business Manager account, they can create one in two clicks: