How to Set Up Your Meta Business Manager & Ad Account

(For first-time Meta advertisers)

If you’re new to Meta advertising, your business will need two things before ads can run:

1. A Meta Business Manager (Business Portfolio)

2. A Meta Ad Account created inside that portfolio

Meta requires these to be created and owned by the business — agencies cannot create or own them on your behalf. The good news: setup is straightforward, and this guide walks you through it step by step.

💡 If you already have a Business Manager or Ad Account, you can skip this guide.

What you’ll need before starting

• A personal Facebook profile (used only to log in — not for posting)

• A business email address

• Your business name

• 5–10 minutes of time

Step 1: Create your Meta Business Manager

Your Meta Business Manager is the central hub for all your Facebook and Instagram business assets — including pages, ad accounts, pixels, and access permissions.

How to create it

1. Go to https://business.facebook.com/overview

2. Click Create account

3. Enter:

   • Your business name

   • Your name

   • Your business email address

4. Follow the on-screen steps to complete setup

5. Confirm your email address if prompted

Once complete, your Business Manager is live and ready to add assets.

Step 2: Add (or create) your Facebook Page

If you already have a Facebook Page for your brand, you’ll add it to your Business Manager.

1. Open Business Settings

2. Go to Accounts → Pages

3. Click Add

4. Choose Add a Page and enter your Page name or URL

If you don’t have a Page yet, you can create one here instead.

Business Settings → Pages → Add Page

Step 3: Connect your Instagram account

Connecting Instagram allows your ads to run across both Facebook and Instagram.

1. In Business Settings, go to Accounts → Instagram accounts

2. Click Add

3. Log in to your Instagram Business account

4. Approve the connection

Step 4: Create your Meta Ad Account

Your Ad Account is where campaigns live and where ad spend is billed.

How to create it

1. Go to Business Settings → Accounts → Ad accounts

2. Click Add

3. Select Create a new ad account

4. Enter:

   • Ad account name (example: Your Brand – Main Ad Account)

   • Time zone

   • Currency

5. Click Create ad account

6. Add a valid payment method when prompted

⚠️ Important: Once an ad account is created, it cannot be deleted — only closed. Please double-check the name, time zone, and currency before confirming.

Step 5: Add additional assets later

You don’t need to do this now — Forge will help guide or audit these during onboarding if needed.

Optional assets include:

• Meta Pixel

• Product Catalog (for eCommerce)

• Conversion events
  
  

What happens next?

Once your Business Manager and Ad Account are created:

1. Complete Forge’s Meta Ads onboarding

2. You’ll receive a secure access request via Leadsie

3. Leadsie will guide you through approving access step by step

4. Forge will review everything and prepare your account for launch

👉  What to expect when approving Meta access via Leadsie

Important notes & best practices

• Always use a business email address when setting up Meta assets

• Your business should own the Business Manager and Ad Account

• Agencies (like Forge) manage access — ownership stays with you

• If you get stuck at any point, our team is happy to help

You’re not behind

Many successful brands start Meta ads without having any of this set up. This guide exists to make the process smooth, simple, and stress-free — and we’ll support you every step of the way.