How to Give Access to Meta Business Manager

Adding a new team member or advertising agency to your Meta Business Manager shouldn’t be a confusing process. Getting the settings right ensures everyone has access to the tools they need while keeping your account secure. This guide walks you through exactly how to grant access, explaining the different roles and permissions along the way.

First, What Is Meta Business Manager, and Why Use It?

Meta Business Manager (now part of Meta Business Suite) is a central hub for managing all your marketing and advertising activities on Facebook and Instagram. If you’re still sharing personal login credentials to let someone manage your business page or run ads, it’s time to stop.

Using Business Manager is the professional and secure way to operate. Here’s why it’s non-negotiable for any serious business:

• Centralized Asset Management: It keeps all your business assets - like your Facebook Pages, Instagram accounts, Ad Accounts, and Pixels - in one organized place.
• Enhanced Security: You grant access without sharing your personal Facebook login, completely separating your personal profile from your business activities.
• Clear Role Delegation: You can assign specific roles and permissions to different team members, agencies, or contractors, ensuring they only have access to what they need to do their job. This prevents accidental changes to assets they shouldn’t be touching.
• Team Collaboration: It allows multiple people to work on the same ad account or Page simultaneously without getting in each other's way.

Before You Grant Access: A Quick Checklist

To make the process go smoothly, have a few things ready before you start.

1. You Must Be an Admin: Only users with "Admin" status in Business Manager can add new people or partners. If you don't see the options described below, you likely have "Employee" access. Check with an administrator on your team to either get your permissions upgraded or have them add the new person for you.

2. Know Their Business Email: You will need the work email address of the person you want to invite. It's a best practice to always use a professional email address (e.g., jane@companyname.com) instead of a personal one (e.g., jane.doe123@gmail.com). The invitation will be sent to this address.

3. Understand What They Need to Access: Think about what this person’s job entails. Do they need to create ads, post on your Page, check analytics, or manage the products in your catalog? Knowing this in advance helps you assign the right assets and permission levels from the start.

Understanding the Different User Roles

Meta provides different levels of access to maintain control and security. Giving someone "Admin" access when all they need is to view reports is a common but risky mistake. Here’s a breakdown of the main roles:

Employee Access vs. Admin Access

When you add an individual to your Business Manager, you must choose between these two primary roles.

• Employee Access (Recommended starting point): This is the standard, limited-access role. People with Employee access can only work on the specific assets (Pages, ad accounts, etc.) that you manually assign to them. They cannot add or remove other users, change business settings, or see assets they haven't been granted access to. This is the safest option for team members, contractors, and most new hires.
• Admin Access (Use with caution): Admins have full control over everything. They can add or remove people (including other admins), delete the Business Manager account, modify billing details, claim new assets, and access every Page and Ad Account connected to the business. Only give this level of permission to trusted individuals who are responsible for managing the business's overall Meta presence, like a co-owner or a marketing director.

What about Partner Access?

"Partner" access works differently. This is designed for when you hire an external advertising agency, a social media management company, or a freelancer who operates their own Meta Business Manager. Instead of adding their individual employee to your account, you grant access to their business.

This is the preferred method for working with agencies because:

• It keeps your Business Manager tidy, as you’re adding one partner entity instead of multiple individual users from their team.
• The agency can then manage permissions for their own team within their Business Manager.
• It maintains a clear-cut professional boundary between your two businesses.

How to Add People to Your Meta Business Manager: Step-by-Step

Ready to add a new team member or a contractor? Follow these steps precisely.

Step 1: Go to Business Settings Navigate to your Meta Business Manager settings. The easiest way to get there is by going to business.facebook.com/settings. Make sure you’ve selected the correct business account from the dropdown menu in the top left if you manage more than one.

Step 2: Navigate to the "People" Section In the left-hand navigation menu, under the "Users" category, click on People. You'll see a list of everyone who currently has access to your Business Manager.

Step 3: Add New People Click the blue “+ Add people” button. A new window will pop up.

Step 4: Enter Their Email Address and Assign a Role In the "Enter email addresses" field, type the business email of the person you’re inviting. You can invite multiple people at once by separating their emails with a comma. Next, you’ll assign their overall business role. Choose either Employee access or Admin access. For nearly all cases, it’s best to start with Employee access. You can always upgrade them later if needed. Click "Next."

Step 5: Assign Access to Specific Assets This is the most detailed part of the process. The screen will be split into three columns. On the far left, you select the type of asset you want to assign (e.g., Pages, Ad accounts, Catalogs, Pixels).

Let's walk through an example:

1. Click "Pages" in the first column. In the second column, you’ll see a list of all Facebook Pages owned by your Business Manager.
2. Select the specific Page you want to assign.
3. In the third column on the right, toggle on the permissions you want to grant for that Page. Maybe they need to publish content and respond to comments, but not manage Page permissions. You can customize this level of access.

• Next, click "Ad accounts" in the first column.
• Select the relevant Ad Account in the second column.
• In the third column, toggle on the needed permissions (e.g., "Manage Campaigns" lets them create, edit, and view ads, while "View Performance" is a read-only role).

Repeat this process for any other assets like Instagram Accounts, Catalogs, or Pixels.

Step 6: Send the Invitation Once you’ve assigned all the necessary assets, double-check your selections. Then, click the “Invite” button. The person will receive an email asking them to accept the invitation. Their status in your Business Manager will show as "Pending" until they accept. The invitation link is valid for 30 days.

How to Add a Partner (like an Agency)

The process for adding a partner is slightly different because you're connecting two Business Manager accounts together.

Step 1: Go to the "Partners" Section In your Business Settings, under the "Users" category, click on Partners.

Step 2: Add a New Partner Click the “+ Add" button and choose the option that says, "Give a partner access to your assets."

Step 3: Enter the Partner’s Business ID This is the most common point of confusion. You don’t use an email here. Instead, you need the agency's unique Meta Business ID number.

They can find this number in their own Business Manager account by going to "Business Settings" > "Business Info." It will be listed clearly at the top under their business name. Ask your contact at the agency to provide you with this ID. Once you have it, enter it into the "Partner business ID" field and click "Next."

Step 4: Assign Assets and Roles This screen is identical to the one for adding an individual. You'll go through the columns to select and assign the desired Pages, Ad Accounts, Pixels, and other assets to the partner. Once you have assigned the appropriate access, click "Save Changes."

The Partner request will now be sent to their Business Manager. An admin on their end will need to see the pending request in their "Partners" section and approve it to finalize the connection.

Final Thoughts

Managing access in Meta Business Manager is straightforward once you understand the distinction between adding People versus Partners and learn how to navigate the permission settings. By following these steps and applying the principle of least privilege - only granting the minimum access necessary - you can collaborate safely and efficiently.

Once your team has the right access, the focus shifts to analyzing performance and proving ROI. If you find yourself spending hours pulling reports or struggling to bring data from Meta Ads together with your other marketing platforms, we built Graphed to simplify that entire process. You connect your data sources in just a few clicks and use plain English to build real-time dashboards and get answers instantly, so you can spend less time wrangling data and more time acting on it.