Facebook Ads Manager vs Business Manager
Facebook can be an excellent tool for building an online presence and growing your business online. The organic side of things is fairly straightforward, however, many business owners need some clarification with paid social media.
It’s understandable and typical to use Facebook Ads Manager and Business Manager interchangeably in conversations. However, it is essential to know the difference between the two to identify which is a better avenue to help you achieve your social media goals. Continue reading as we break them both down and shed some light on exactly how they differ.
What is Facebook Ads Manager?
Facebook Ads Manager is an application that is solely used to manage ads. The Ads Manager manages your ads and no other aspect of your business. Below are some of the functions you can do within Facebook Ads Manager:
Test different ad sets with A/B split testing
Create campaigns where you can customise the format, target audience, objectives, and placement
Edit your ad settings at any point while they are up and running
Manage many different audiences, ads, and campaigns at one time
Customise, schedule, and create reports concerning your ad’s performance
Use filters, sort through breakdowns, and gain a better understanding of how your ads are performing
Share or export these results to share with clients or team members
What is Facebook Business Manager?
If this is your first time hearing about Facebook Business Manager, the easiest way to think about it is like a control centre or house for your business. Each room within this powerhouse is dedicated to each asset in your company.
With this in mind, though, everything remains connected and under one roof, including your Facebook Ads Manager. These assets include Event Manager, Audience Manager, Facebook Pixel, Ads Manager, and Business Settings. It is important to note that this is a free tool provided by Facebook but also a massive tool to understand initially.
Key differences between a Facebook Ads Manager and a Facebook Business Manager
To understand which may better suit your business and help you achieve your digital goals, let’s talk about the differences between the two. Facebook Ads Manager primarily focuses on creating, managing, and reviewing your ads. In Facebook Ads Manager, you can select which individual ad accounts you would like to see under your profile or your company’s profile. It only depends on who owns the ad account.
It is important to remember that there are two kinds of general ‘ads’ on Facebook. There are actual ads and then boosted posts. With this in mind, Facebook Ads Manager is not the same as boosting a post which is already in the feed. With boosted posts, you can still target an audience, but you will not receive a report or be able to choose an objective like you can with a traditional Facebook ad.
Facebook Ad Manager is not needed to boost posts. With Facebook Ads Manager, you can also filter ads by audience demographic, ad delivery, and objective, as well as whether an ad is active or complete. This allows you to easily compare how different ads have performed and to truly identify what is and isn’t working. The Business Manager then manages the multiple Facebook assets and permissions for teams.
The Ad Manager is primarily utilised by small teams or individuals who manage Facebook ad campaigns. Business Manager is typically used by bigger organisations with multiple assets and teams. One thing that could be a potential downfall of Ads Manager for some businesses is that it has a more limited set of user permissions and roles.
Business Manager, by contrast, enables businesses to assign different permissions and user roles for different teams or people. It should also be noted that Business Manager provides more integration with other Facebook assets like Messenger and Instagram. This means businesses can manage all their Facebook properties from just one dashboard.
Business Manager offers a lot of security for businesses, and data security is essential for any business, particularly in this age of digitisation. Through Facebook Business Manager, companies get 100 percent control over who can access their accounts, which greatly eliminates any threats of unauthorised use. It also enables businesses to keep their pages and accounts well organised.
Summary
To summarise, Facebook Ads Manager is essentially a place where you can create, manage, and analyse your ads. Facebook Business Manager, by contrast, is a powerhouse that allows you to manage all aspects of your business. While this may seem like Facebook Business Manager is the better option, if you run a small enterprise, you may find Facebook Ads Manager more suitable to your needs and desires.
The bottom line is you don’t need both, and if you are ready to jump into paid social media, it’s time to assess which will better help you position your business online and reach new heights of success. If you are looking to take your social media to the next level, why not consider working with a social media agency like us at Social Directions Agency?
We take care of all organic and paid social media for our clients, plus we offer services such as on-site filming to give them back time to put into what they do best - running their successful businesses. If you would be interested in collaborating with our team of social media experts, contact us today.