- 01Run Facebook ads for a client from the client's own ad account, with partner access to their business portfolio, not from an account you own.
- 02Check the payment method, the pixel or dataset and the Page before you build anything.
- 03Every Facebook ad sits in three layers, campaign, ad set and ad, and each layer controls different settings.
- 04Pick the objective that matches the result the client pays for, and give the campaign time before changing it.
- 05Boosting a post is a quick way to place an ad on Facebook, but Ads Manager gives you the controls an agency needs.
How to run Facebook ads for a client is mostly a setup question. The campaign itself takes twenty minutes to build. Getting the right access, a working payment method and tracking that fires on the client's site is what slows most agencies down. This guide walks through the whole process in order, from the first access request to checking results after launch.
The same steps cover how to run Meta ads on Instagram, since both run from the same ad account, and how to start Facebook ads for a client who has never advertised. It is written for agencies and freelancers running ads on behalf of a business. If you are advertising your own business, the steps are the same, minus the access request.
Before you start: what you need from the client
You can't run Meta ads well for a client without four things in place. Ask for all of them in the same message, so you don't spend a week chasing each one separately.
| What | Why you need it | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Ad account access | To build, launch and edit campaigns | The client's business portfolio (formerly Business Manager) |
| Facebook Page access | Every ad runs from a Page | The client's business portfolio |
| Pixel or dataset access | To track purchases, leads and sign-ups | Events Manager, inside the client's business portfolio |
| A payment method on the ad account | Ads won't deliver without one | Billing settings on the ad account |
If the client also wants Instagram placements, you need their Instagram account connected to the business portfolio as well.
Use the client's ad account, not yours
New agencies often create an ad account inside their own business portfolio and run the client's ads from there. It works until the relationship ends or something goes wrong. The client doesn't own the ad history, the pixel data may sit in your account, and a restriction on your business portfolio can affect every client in it. Our guide on what to do when a Facebook ad account is disabled covers why that matters.
The cleaner setup is that the client owns the business portfolio, the ad account, the Page and the pixel. Your agency's business portfolio is added as a partner, and the client assigns you the assets you need.
Step 1: Get partner access to the client's ad account
Partner access is how Meta expects agencies to work. The client adds your business portfolio as a partner and assigns you the ad account, Page and pixel with the permissions you need. You then assign those assets to the people on your team.
The manual way is to send the client your business portfolio ID and a list of instructions. Our guide on finding your Facebook Business Manager ID shows where that ID is. In practice, many clients get stuck on the step where they choose assets and permissions.
The faster way is one link. With ClientInvite, you send the client a branded link, they log in to Facebook, pick the ad account, Page and pixel, and approve. The access lands in your business portfolio. You can see how that works for each asset on the Facebook ad account access and Meta pixel access pages, or read about Meta ads account access for agencies.
Once access is approved, open Business settings in your own business portfolio and assign the ad account to yourself and anyone else who will build campaigns.
Step 2: Check the ad account is ready
Before you build anything, open the ad account in Ads Manager and check four things.
- Payment method. Go to the ad account's billing settings and confirm a valid payment method is there. If it's missing, the client has to add it. You shouldn't put your agency card on a client's account unless your contract says you will.
- Account status. Look for any warning banner in Ads Manager, and check Account Quality in the client's business portfolio. A restricted account needs fixing before a new campaign will deliver. See how to check Meta Business Manager account quality.
- Currency and time zone. These are set when the ad account is created. Note what they are so your budgets and reports make sense.
- The Page. Make sure the Page the ads will run from is the right one, is published, and has a profile picture and description. Ads link back to it.
Step 3: Set up tracking
If the goal is sales, leads or sign-ups, Meta needs to see those events happen. That means the Meta pixel (now part of a dataset in Events Manager) on the client's site, and ideally the Conversions API as well.
Check the following in Events Manager:
- The pixel is on every page of the site.
- The events you'll optimise for, such as Purchase, Lead or CompleteRegistration, are firing and show recent activity.
- Purchase events send a value and currency, so you can measure return on ad spend.
- The domain is verified in the client's business portfolio.
Our walkthrough on installing and verifying the Facebook pixel covers this step by step. If the client is on Shopify, the Facebook and Instagram sales channel app can handle the pixel and Conversions API for you.
Skip tracking and you can still run ads, but you'll be limited to objectives like traffic and engagement, and you won't be able to tell the client what the ads earned.
Step 4: Understand how a Facebook ad campaign is built
Every Meta campaign has three layers. Knowing what sits where saves a lot of clicking around.
| Layer | What you set here |
|---|---|
| Campaign | The objective, and the budget if you use campaign-level budgets |
| Ad set | The audience, placements, schedule, optimisation event and budget (if set here) |
| Ad | The creative, the copy, the headline, the link and the call to action |
One campaign can hold several ad sets, and each ad set can hold several ads. A simple starting structure for a new client is one campaign, one ad set and three to five ads with different creative.
Step 5: Build the campaign in Ads Manager
This is the part most people mean when they ask how to do Facebook ads. Open Ads Manager in the client's ad account and click Create.
Choose the objective
Meta groups objectives into six options: Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App promotion and Sales. Pick the one that matches what the client is paying you to deliver.
- Selling products online: Sales.
- Collecting enquiries or form fills: Leads.
- Getting people to a website when you can't track a conversion yet: Traffic.
- Reaching as many people as possible in an area: Awareness.
Avoid choosing Traffic when the client wants sales. Meta will find people who click, which isn't the same as people who buy.
Set the budget
Decide between a daily budget and a lifetime budget, and whether the budget sits at the campaign level (Meta spreads it across ad sets) or at each ad set. For a first campaign with one ad set, either works.
Before you set the number, work out what a sale is worth to the client. The break-even ROAS calculator shows the return the ads need to hit before they start making the client money. That one number makes every later budget conversation easier.
Define the audience
At the ad set level, set the location, age range and language. Meta's Advantage+ audience options let the system look beyond the targeting you enter, and Meta often recommends them. You can also add custom audiences, such as past customers or site visitors from the pixel, and lookalike audiences built from them.
If the client's ads relate to credit, employment, housing, or social issues, elections or politics, you must declare a Special Ad Category at the campaign level. That category limits some targeting options, and skipping it can get ads rejected.
Pick placements
Placements are where the ad appears: Facebook Feed, Instagram Feed, Stories, Reels and others. Advantage+ placements let Meta choose. Manual placements let you exclude places that don't suit the creative. For a first campaign, automatic placements with creative made in more than one aspect ratio is a sensible default.
Create the ads
At the ad level, choose the Page (and Instagram account) the ad runs from, then add the creative and copy.
- Upload images or videos in square and vertical sizes so they fit most placements.
- Write the primary text, the headline and the description.
- Add the website link with UTM parameters so the client's analytics can see the traffic.
- Choose a call-to-action button that matches the offer, such as Shop Now or Sign Up.
- Make sure the pixel or dataset is selected under tracking.
Use the preview panel to check how each ad looks in every placement before you publish.
Step 6: Publish and pass ad review
Click Publish. Every ad goes through Meta's ad review before it can run. Most ads are reviewed quickly, but some take longer. If an ad is rejected, Ads Manager shows the policy it was flagged under, and you can edit the ad or request another review.
Common reasons for rejection include claims the landing page doesn't back up, personal attributes in the copy ("Are you struggling with debt?"), and landing pages that don't work or don't match the ad.
Step 7: Check results and adjust
After launch, Meta's delivery system goes through a learning phase while it works out who to show the ads to. Results tend to be unstable during that time, and large edits can restart it. Give a new campaign several days before you judge it, unless something is clearly broken.
What to watch in the first week:
- Delivery. Is the ad spending? If not, check the payment method, the audience size and ad review.
- Cost per result. Compare it with the target you set from the break-even calculation.
- Click-through rate and landing page views. Low numbers usually point at the creative or the offer.
- Conversions in Events Manager. Make sure the purchases or leads Meta reports also show in the client's own systems.
When you change things, change one at a time: swap creative, adjust the audience, or move budget to the ads that are working. Report back to the client with the numbers they care about, not just clicks.
How to place an ad on Facebook without Ads Manager
If the client only wants to promote a single post, the Boost button on the Page is the quickest way to post an ad on Facebook. You choose a goal, an audience, a budget and a duration, and the post runs as an ad.
Boosting works for simple reach goals. It offers fewer objectives, less control over placements and less detailed reporting than Ads Manager, so agencies running ads to sell or generate leads should build campaigns in Ads Manager instead. Boosted posts still need the same Page access and payment method.
A short checklist for your first client campaign
- Partner access to the client's ad account, Page and pixel.
- A valid payment method on the ad account, added by the client.
- No warnings in Account Quality.
- Pixel and key events firing, with value and currency on purchases.
- A clear objective and a break-even target for cost per result.
- One campaign, one ad set and three to five ads to start.
- UTM parameters on every link.
- A date in the calendar to review results with the client.
The step that holds most agencies up is the first one. ClientInvite turns the access request into one branded link that covers the ad account, Page, pixel and Instagram, so you can get to building the campaign the same day. See pricing to start a free trial.