Yes, Facebook’s Business Manager platform is still active and widely used as of October 2023. Business Manager provides companies and organizations with tools to manage their presence on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Audience Network.
What is Facebook Business Manager?
Facebook Business Manager is a free platform that allows businesses to manage and analyze their Facebook Pages, Instagram profiles, Messenger experiences and ads accounts in one place. With Business Manager, companies can:
- Create and manage Pages and ad accounts
- Give employees specific access to different ad accounts and Pages
- Share Page roles with other Business Manager users
- Get insights about followers and customers across Facebook apps
- Create and edit ads
- View ad performance and creation history
In essence, Business Manager acts as a central hub to organize and optimize a business’s presence across Facebook’s family of apps and services. It provides a single unified interface rather than having to manage each property separately.
What can you do with Facebook Business Manager?
Here are some of the key capabilities of Facebook Business Manager:
Manage Multiple Pages and Ad Accounts
Add and manage all of your Facebook Pages, Instagram profiles, Messenger bots and ad accounts in one place. Easily switch between them.
Integrate with Instagram
Connect your Instagram profile to Business Manager so you can track performance and promote posts.
Create and Edit Ads
Use the Ads Manager within Business Manager to create ads for Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Audience Network. Edit, monitor and analyze ad performance.
Assign User Roles and Permissions
Add employees and external partners to your Business Manager and assign specific roles like admin, advertiser, analyst etc. Control access.
Get Cross-Channel Analytics
Get key metrics and insights into how your Facebook Pages, Instagram profiles, Messenger bots and ads are performing. See cross-channel data.
Collaborate with Team Members
Add contributors and collaborate on building your brand presence. Provide access to specific Pages or ad accounts.
Chat with Support
Get help from Facebook’s support team right within Business Manager if you have any issues or questions.
Key Benefits of Using Facebook Business Manager
Major benefits of managing your Facebook presence through Business Manager include:
- Unified Management: Everything is in one place instead of spread across different platforms.
- Cross-Channel Insights: Get a big picture view of how your brand is performing across Facebook apps.
- Streamlined Workflows: Simplifies admin tasks and collaborating with others.
- Customized Access: Control precisely what each team member can see and do.
- Added Security: Settings allow for enhanced security and risk management.
- New Features: Early access to new Facebook tools and products for businesses.
- Better Support: Get help right within Business Manager if issues arise.
By centralizing and simplifying management of Facebook Pages, Instagram profiles and ads, Business Manager saves time and provides insights for better optimizing content and promotions.
Key Sections and Tools Within Business Manager
Business Manager provides various sections and tools for managing different aspects of a business’s Facebook presence:
Pages
Add and manage all your Facebook Pages from one place. Analyze Page followers, engagement and trends. Assign roles like Admin, Editor, Moderator, Advertiser and Analyst to control access.
Ad Accounts
Manage all your ad accounts across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Audience Network. Create new ad accounts, define budgets and assign specific campaign access to users.
Ads Manager
Use the built-in Ads Manager to create, run and analyze ad performance for all your campaigns. Make changes and optimize ads for better results.
Connect Instagram profiles to Business Manager for unified management and analytics. Enable promotions on Instagram posts.
Messenger
Add Messenger bots, configure messaging settings and enable click-to-Messenger ads.
Audience Insights
Get detailed analytics on your target audiences and existing customers/fans. Leverage built-in segmentation tools.
Assets
Centrally store and manage creative assets like ad images, videos and posts for easy access across campaigns.
Notifications
Manage notifications about important activity, alerts and updates related to your connected Pages, ad accounts, apps and users.
Support Inbox
Direct access to Facebook’s support team to get help with any issues managing your accounts.
Who Should Use Facebook Business Manager?
Any organization, brand or business with a presence on Facebook apps can benefit from using Business Manager. It is particularly recommended for larger companies managing multiple Pages, ad accounts and content creators. Business Manager is designed for:
- Businesses and brands with Facebook Pages
- Advertisers running Facebook / Instagram ad campaigns
- Agencies managing pages and ads for multiple clients
- Publishers and content creators
- Ecommerce sites selling on Facebook
- Nonprofits, schools and local businesses
- Teams with multiple administrators and contributors
Even smaller businesses with just one Facebook Page can benefit from the additional organization, efficiency and analytics Business Manager provides.
Is Facebook Business Manager Going Away?
There are no signs Facebook will be shutting down Business Manager in the foreseeable future. It continues to be developed and promoted as the main platform for managing business presence on Facebook.
In fact, in 2022 Facebook introduced a redesigned and streamlined interface for Business Manager with additional automation features. This demonstrates Facebook’s commitment to improving Business Manager over time.
Mark Zuckerberg has identified Facebook’s business tools as a key strategic focus. The company is incentivized to grow and retain the millions of businesses utilizing its apps and ad services.
While scandals like the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal damaged the company’s reputation, businesses continue relying heavily on Facebook’s unrivaled targeting capabilities and massive user base.
It is highly unlikely Facebook would remove something as useful for businesses as Business Manager without a comparable alternative. There has been no indication this is planned.
Tips for Using Facebook Business Manager
Here are some top tips for getting the most value out of managing your brand’s Facebook presence through Business Manager:
- Customize user roles and permissions: Control exactly what team members can access to improve security and coordination.
- Have regular strategy meetings: Review insights and metrics to identify optimization opportunities.
- Take advantage of available training: Facebook offers free online training courses on effectively using Business Manager and Ads Manager.
- Hide inactive ad accounts: Archive old/unused ad accounts so your active ones are easier to manage.
- Utilize available support: Get help from Facebook’s support team within Business Manager if needed.
- Monitor notifications: Stay on top of alerts about important account activity and updates.
- Analyze cross-channel data: Look at performance metrics across Facebook Pages, Instagram, Messenger, etc.
- Automate where possible: Use workflow automation tools to save time on repetitive tasks.
Leveraging all the features of Business Manager allows organizations to maximize the results from their investment in maintaining a presence across Facebook apps.
Conclusion
Facebook Business Manager remains an essential platform for any business wanting to effectively manage its Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and ad accounts. Business Manager provides a unified interface, helpful analytics and collaboration tools.
Facebook continues developing Business Manager with new features and improvements. There are no signs it plans to shut the platform down given its importance for millions of businesses.
Optimizing use of Business Manager can streamline social media and ad management, provide cross-channel insights, and drive better results. The platform is likely to grow increasingly more important for brands as Facebook expands its commerce and business offerings.