How to Connect Facebook Ad to Instagram
Running a Facebook Ad on Instagram requires more than just ticking a box in Ads Manager. To do it right, you first need to link your Instagram profile and Facebook Business Page. This simple connection streamlines your entire advertising process, ensuring your ads run smoothly and your brand looks professional across both platforms. This article will walk you through the exact steps for connecting your accounts and provide tips for managing your ads afterward.
Why You Should Connect Your Facebook and Instagram Accounts
You might be thinking, "Can't I just select the Instagram placement without officially connecting my accounts?" While technically you can, it’s not a good idea. Running ads this way means they will appear on Instagram as coming from your Facebook Page name instead of your actual Instagram handle. It creates a disconnected experience, prevents users from clicking through to your Instagram profile, and means you can't reply to comments on the ad directly from Instagram.
Connecting your accounts is the professional way to do it and unlocks a host of benefits that make your marketing efforts easier and more effective. Here’s what you gain:
Streamlined Ad Creation: You can create and manage ads for both Facebook and Instagram from one place: Meta Ads Manager. This saves you from having to create separate campaigns on separate platforms.
Unified Ad Management: All your performance data, from clicks to conversions, appears in a single dashboard. You can easily compare how your ads perform on Facebook versus Instagram and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Professional Ad Appearance: When your accounts are linked, ads shown on Instagram will come directly from your Instagram profile. Users can tap your profile name, visit your grid, follow you, and engage with the ad just like any other post. This builds brand credibility and grows your Instagram following.
Access to More Features: Linking your profiles unlocks additional features, like the ability to turn popular Instagram posts into ads directly from the Instagram app ("boosting") while managing them within Ads Manager.
Consistent Cross-Platform Audiences: You can create custom audiences based on people who have interacted with your Instagram profile and use them in your Facebook ad campaigns, and vice versa. This allows for powerful retargeting strategies across the entire Meta ecosystem.
Centralized Inbox: Through Meta Business Suite, you gain a unified inbox where you can manage comments and direct messages from both Facebook and Instagram, making community management far more efficient.
What You Need Before You Start
Before you begin the process, make sure you have these three things ready to go. Trying to connect your accounts without these prerequisites is the source of most common connection issues, so a quick check now will save you a headache later.
1. An Instagram Professional Account
You cannot link a personal Instagram account to a Facebook Business Page for advertising purposes. Your Instagram profile must be set to either a Business or Creator account. If you're still using a personal account, it only takes a minute to switch.
How to switch to a Professional Account:
Open the Instagram app and go to your profile.
Tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings and privacy.
Scroll down and tap on Account type and tools.
Select Switch to professional account and follow the on-screen prompts. Choose the category that best fits your brand or service.
Switching is free and gives you access to built-in analytics, contact buttons on your profile, and the ability to run ads.
2. A Facebook Business Page
You run ads as a business, not from your personal Facebook profile. If your company doesn’t have a Facebook Page yet, you’ll need to create one. This page will be the central hub for your business on Facebook and the anchor point for your Meta ad account. If you already have one, you're good to go.
3. Admin Access to Your Meta Business Manager
To connect the accounts, you'll need the right permissions. Make sure you have "Full control" (admin) permissions on the Facebook Page you want to connect to. This also means you need proper admin access within the overarching Meta Business Suite or Business Manager that owns the Facebook Page. If you are an employee at a larger company, you may need to ask the owner of the Business Manager account to grant you the necessary permissions.
How to Connect Your Instagram Account to Your Facebook Page
There are a few different places within the Meta ecosystem where you can make this connection. We'll cover the two most common and reliable methods: connecting directly from your Facebook Page settings and connecting from within the Meta Business Suite.
Method 1: Connecting Through Your Facebook Page Settings
This is a quick and straightforward method if you're already logged in to Facebook and managing your Page.
Navigate to your Facebook Page: Go to Facebook and switch to interacting as your Business Page. You can do this by clicking your profile picture on the top right and selecting your Page.
Go to your Professional Dashboard: In the left-hand menu of your Page's interface, click on Professional dashboard.
Find Linked Accounts: In the Professional Dashboard menu (again, on the left), scroll down until you see the 'Your Tools' section and click on Linked Accounts.
Connect your Instagram Account: On this screen, you’ll see options to link your Instagram and WhatsApp accounts. Select Instagram and click the Connect account button.
Confirm and Log In: A pop-up window will appear asking to confirm that you want to allow access to Instagram messages in your inbox. Click Continue. You'll then be prompted to log in to the Instagram account you want to connect. Enter your username and password, and click Log In.
Once you’ve logged in successfully, your accounts will be linked. You should now see your Instagram account details on the 'Linked Accounts' page.
Method 2: Connecting Through Meta Business Suite
If you manage multiple assets (pages, ad accounts, pixels), it’s best practice to manage these connections from the central hub of the Meta Business Suite. This method ensures your Instagram account is properly associated with your entire business portfolio, not just the page.
Go to Business Settings: Navigate to business.facebook.com/settings. If you manage multiple business accounts, be sure to select the correct one from the dropdown menu on the top left.
Find Instagram Accounts: In the left-hand navigation menu, under the Accounts section, click on Instagram accounts.
Add Your Account: If no account is connected, you'll see a prominent blue Add button in the main window. Click it. You’ll be given an option to 'Claim an Instagram account.' This will open a new window.
Connect Your Instagram Account: In the pop-up window, click the Connect Your Instagram Account button. You will be prompted to enter your Instagram username and password. After logging in, you'll just need to follow the prompts to complete the connection.
Assign Assets (Important for teams): Once connected, you will need to assign which ad accounts within your Business Manager are allowed to use this Instagram account for advertising. Select the Instagram account from your list, click Add Assets, and select the ad account(s) you want to grant access to.
Managing Your Ads After Connecting
Congratulations, your accounts are connected! Now when you go into Meta Ads Manager to create a new campaign, you'll have full control over where your ads appear.
At the Ad Set level of your campaign setup, you'll find the Placements section. By default, Meta uses Advantage+ Placements (formerly "Automatic Placements"), which automatically shows your ads across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and their Audience Network where they are predicted to perform best.
When you leave this option selected, your connected Instagram profile will automatically be used for any ads shown in Instagram placements like the Feed, Stories, Reels, and Explore page.
If you prefer more control, you can switch to Manual placements. Here, you can manually check or uncheck which platforms and specific placements you want to use. For example, you could choose to run a campaign only on Instagram Stories and Reels.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Sometimes things don't go as smoothly as planned. Here are a few common hiccups and how to solve them.
"This Instagram account is already owned by another business."
This is the most common error. It means your Instagram account is connected to a different or older Meta Business Manager. This often happens if you worked with an agency in the past or accidentally created a new Business Manager. To fix this, you must log into the old Business Manager account, navigate to Business Settings > Instagram accounts, select the profile, and click "Remove." Then you can return to your current Business Manager and add it.
Not seeing the 'Connect Account' button
If the option to connect doesn't appear or is grayed out, it’s almost always a permissions issue. You likely don’t have admin-level permissions on the Facebook Page or in the Business Manager. Check with the page owner or account administrator to have your permissions upgraded.
Problems logging in from the pop-up window
Make sure you're using the correct username and password. Sometimes browsers auto-fill old info. Double-check for typos. If you have two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled on your Instagram account, you may need to complete that process after entering your password to finalize the connection.
Final Thoughts
Connecting your Facebook and Instagram accounts is a foundational step for any business serious about advertising on Meta's platforms. It centralizes your management, provides a better user experience for your audience, and unlocks tools that allow for more effective, cohesive marketing campaigns. Taking ten minutes to properly link them will pay dividends in saved time and better ad performance down the road.
Once your ads are efficiently running across both platforms, seeing the true return on your ad spend becomes the next challenge. Instead of jumping between Ads Manager and endless spreadsheets, you can get a unified view of your entire marketing funnel. That’s why we built Graphed. We make it easy to connect your Facebook Ads, Google Ads, CRM, and Shopify data into one place. You can instantly create real-time dashboards with simple language to finally see which campaigns drive real revenue.