How to Reclaim Your Facebook Business Manager Ownership
Can’t Confirm Your Instagram and Facebook Connection?
You Might Need to Reclaim Your Business Portfolio (formerly Facebook Business Manager) Ownership First…
Have you ever tried to connect your Facebook and Instagram accounts only to be blocked by an error saying “Connection Failed - You must be an admin of the associated Page’s business in Business Manager to confirm the Instagram account”?
If so, you’re not alone! We see this happen all the time with our clients. And, lucky for you, this article is going to give you some REAL answers. We’ll break down what this error message means, why it’s critical to have ownership of the Business Manager that owns your Facebook page, and your options for gaining access to the Business Manager.
What This Error Message Means…
This error means that the Facebook page you are trying to connect to Instagram is owned by a Facebook Business Manager of which you are not an Admin. Until the Admin of the Business Manager approves the connection between Facebook and Instagram…
- You won’t be able to manually post from Instagram to Facebook.
- You won’t be able to post to Instagram using Meta Business Suite Planner.
- You won’t be able to post to Instagram using popular content schedulers such as Buffer or Loomly because they often require you to sign into Instagram using your Facebook login, which won’t work if the two accounts aren’t connected.
Why It’s Critical to Own The Business Portfolio That Controls Your Facebook Page
Before we answer this, let’s first discuss the difference between Facebook Business Portfolio—formerly called Facebook Business Manager—and Meta Business Suite.
Facebook Business Portfolio offers the highest level of control over your assets on Facebook whereas Meta Business Suite is a stripped-down version. It is unclear whether Meta is trying to replace Facebook Business Portfolio with Meta Business Suite.
With Facebook Business Portfolio, not only can you control your business’s Facebook Page but also your:
- Facebook Ads account: allows you to manage your ads on Facebook.
- Meta Pixel (formerly Facebook Pixel): a snippet of code you can add to your website that helps you measure and optimize your Facebook ad campaigns.
- Facebook Product Catalog: stores information about the products you want to advertise through Facebook.
- System Partners: This allows you to grant an agency (such as Baylii Branding) permission to access your Facebook page or ads account, or Instagram account, etc. This is different from adding an individual person as an admin on your Facebook page.
How to Reclaim Ownership of Your Facebook Business Portfolio
The solution here is going to depend on a number of factors, like your level of account access and whether you know who owns the Facebook page, etc. So buckle up and stick with us!
Step 1: Find out which Business Portfolio owns the Facebook Page you’re trying to connect to Instagram.
To find this information, you must be an admin on the Facebook page in question.
- Using a computer, log in to your personal Facebook account.
- From the dropdown menu beneath your profile picture, switch to the profile of the business page you want to connect to Instagram.
- On the left side menu, select Settings.
- On the left side menu, select Page Setup.
- On the next screen, select Page access and from there, you should see the Business Portfolio account that owns the Facebook Business Page which cannot be connected to Instagram. You will need the Business Portfolio ID number in order to do the next step.
Step 2: Choose how to gain access to the Business Portfolio.
You have two main options for navigating this process.
Option 1 - Find out who in your organization may have access to the Business Portfolio
If you suspect someone in your organization—past or present—may have originally created the Business Portfolio AND that person is available to help, here’s what we recommend doing:
- Have this person access their personal Facebook page on a computer where they’re already logged in. Otherwise, they may need to spend a few minutes navigating two-factor authentication triggered by a new login attempt.
They don’t remember their Facebook username and password... Now what? Don’t throw your hands up yet! Just grind through the process outlined in this Facebook username and password recovery article.
- Once logged in, switch to the Facebook Business Page in question.
- From the Manage Page, select Meta Business Suite.
- Within Meta Business Suite, select the drop-down menu in the upper left which will show which Business Portfolios they have access to. If they have access to the Portfolio that owns the Facebook page in question, proceed to step 5! If they don’t have access, scroll down to Option 2.
- If they have access to the correct Business Portfolio…
- Select the Settings gear icon next to the Business Portfolio's name in the drop-down menu.
- Select the blue Invite People button and to invite someone from your organization to have full access to the Business Portfolio. Follow the prompts for granting access to specific assets within the portfolio and permission levels.
Option 2 - Contact Facebook to regain access
- Log in to the personal Facebook account that is associated with the Facebook Business Page in question.
- Switch to the Facebook Business Page.
- From the Manage Page, select Meta Business Suite.
- Select Help at the bottom of the left side menu which will trigger a mini popup menu, select Help again.
- On the next screen, choose Contact support from the middle of the right side menu.
- "What issue are you having?" - Submit a message about your request. Here's a templated message you can send to start the conversation.
I work for [insert business name] and am an admin on our Facebook page [insert page url]. I need help regaining access to Business Portfolio ID [insert 15-digit Portfolio ID] as nobody at our organization seems to have access.
- "What asset can we help you with?" - Select the account you need help with.
- "Need more help? Contact support" - At this point, the menu may populate with some help articles but scroll down and select Contact support
From here, you will need to provide some additional information and start a chat with support. Be prepared for support to request additional information which may prompt a phone call or email correspondence. The end result will likely be Meta opening up a Case ID so you can start the process of providing the information they need to grant you access to your Business Portfolio.
To regain access to the Business Portfolio, Meta may request several pieces of information and a signed statement to verify your identity and prove to Meta that you are employed by the business that is trying to regain access. This process can take weeks, so buckle up and don’t get discouraged!
We created a template for the signed statement based on successful cases we’ve facilitated. Download the signed statement template and to see the specific examples of identification and supporting documents that Meta will accept.
Reclaiming ownership of your Business Portfolio can be a long and tricky road to navigate, but it is possible. As a best practice, be sure to document who has ownership of your Business Portfolio in case admin changes are needed in the future!
Have more questions about Facebook?
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