A Foolproof, Pain-Free Guide to Giving Your New Agency Digital Account Access
Congratulations, you’ve partnered with an advertising agency. Now it’s time for the fun part: giving them access to all of your accounts.
Just kidding. This onboarding process is not exactly fun. It takes up time, and any delays keep you from starting what’s really important.
We don’t want you to waste time going back and forth with phone calls and emails when we should be starting on the work, so we’ve put together a guide to help make the account sharing process run as smoothly as possible.
Click the links below to find our best tips and tricks to help you avoid the many pitfalls that spring up when sharing digital account access.
Google
Analytics
Tag Manager
Search Console
YouTube
Facebook
Business Manager
Page
Ad Account
Instagram
Twitter
LinkedIn
Company Page
Campaign Manager
Your Website
All of the Google Products
You can access all things Google through an individual Google account. This account can be a special Gmail account you’ve created for work or any email address that you’ve turned into a Google account.
Grant the User Access, Don’t Share Your Password
When you want to share access to one of the many Google products, the number one rule is never to give your password to anyone. And that’s not our rule, it's Google’s. We’d be fine with just using your password. But they’ve cracked down on password sharing, which means extra security questions and login challenges.
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, Google often sends you a verification code by phone call, email or text. If you share your password, you’ll need to relay this code to the agency and hope they can enter it fast enough to get in. Bottom line: don’t share your password. Just grant access.
It will save a lot of time and frustration if you grant another user’s Google account access to the Google property rather than sharing your email and password for them to login with.
If you absolutely have to let your agency into your Google account, here’s a pro tip. Send your recovery email or phone number along with the password. That may be enough to get your agency into the account, although your best bet is still granting access.
Google Ads
Google Ads makes it pretty easy to share access to your Ads account. That’s something I know we all appreciate.
To start, you’ll need to ask your agency if they have a Manager Account or if they’ll be accessing through a team member’s personal Google account, because the process is different for each. Once you know how they’re going to access the account, you’re ready to get started.
Granting Access to a Manager Account
The first step is to send the agency your Customer ID. Not sure how to find your Customer ID? Here it is.
Then, let the agency do the heavy lifting. They’ll take the ID, go into their account and then request that you link to them. All you have to do then is accept:
Sign in to your Google Ads manager account.
Click the tools & settings icon, then under "Setup," click Access and security.
Select the Managers tab. Under “Link request,” you’ll find a list of manager accounts that have requested to link to your account.
Under “Actions,” click Accept.
Granting Access to a User
No manager account for your new agency? Here’s how you share access with a user:
Sign in to your Google Ads account.
In the upper right corner of your account, click the tools icon, then under "Setup," click Access and security.
Click the plus button.
Select an access level for your invitee, then enter their email address.
Click Send invitation.
After the person accepts your email invitation, you'll receive a notification in your account. If you need to revoke your invitation, click Revoke in the "Actions" column.
Need to Create a New Ads Account?
No problem. Just let the agency set it up for you. They’ll send you an invite, so just make sure you accept from a Google account.
Google Analytics
Granting access to Analytics can get a little tricky. If you’re on the old Universal Analytics, you have Accounts, Properties and Views to worry about. If you’ve already switched to GA4, which is what we recommend, you only have to consider Account and Properties.
Please Share Access at the Account Level
By sharing access at the account level, your new agency will automatically gain entry to all of the properties and views below. You also won’t need to go back and regrant access every time you add a new property or view in the future. This is a timesaving tip.
It’s even better if you grant your agency admin access so they can add team members to your account as needed. They will likely have multiple people working in Google Analytics. Allowing them to add team members means less back and forth for you and more time working on your account for them.
Click Admin, and navigate to the desired account/property/view.
In the Account, Property, or View column (depending upon whether you want to add users at the account, property, or view level), click Access Management.
In the Account permissions list, click +, then click Add users.
Enter the email address for the user's Google Account.
Select Notify new users by email to send a message to the user.
Select the permissions you want. Learn more about permissions.
Click Add.
Search Console
With Google Search Console, formerly known as Webmaster Tools, there are a few different levels of access. We recommend adding your new partner as a Delegated Owner. That way, they can configure settings and use all the tools without needing someone on your team to get back involved any time a change is needed. Here’s how to add them to the account:
Sign in to Google Search Console.
Choose a property in Search Console.
Click the settings icon in the navigation pane.
Click Users & permissions.
Click Add user.
Enter the Google Account name (email) of the new user. Users must have a Google Account, and email groups cannot be added as a user or owner.
Choose the permission level (role) to grant the user.
Save your changes.
Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager allows you to add users at the Account and Container levels. We recommend allowing access at the account level so your new partner is able to get into all of your containers without any hassle. And this way they’ll already have access in the event you create new containers in the future.
Pro tip: Always have at least two admins on the account at a time. That way, if one employee leaves, you won’t lose access to your account. Losing all of the tags and tracking would be a real bummer.
Sign in to Google Tag Manager.
Click Admin.
In the Account column, select User Management.
Click the plus icon.
Select Add new users.
Enter one or more email addresses.
Set Account Permissions. User is selected by default, and this level allows the user to view basic account information. Select Administrator if the user should have the ability to create new containers and modify user permissions for accounts and containers.
Optional: Set Container Permissions for each container that you would like the user to have access to.
Click Invite. Each invited user will receive an invitation to use the container.
YouTube
We’ve always had the most trouble getting into client YouTube accounts, but it doesn’t have to be this way! YouTube is currently working on Channel Permissions to make it easier for multiple people in an organization or partners to run a YouTube channel.
Add your agency partner as a Manager, and they’ll be able to do everything short of deleting your channel. Here’s how:
Go to studio.youtube.com.
On the left-hand side, click Settings.
Click Permissions.
Click Invite and enter the email address of the person you’d like to invite.
Click Access and select the role you’d like to assign to this person.
Click Save.
Check whether you or someone on your team has access to your channel. Make sure to always have multiple people who can get in at any given time so you’re not left with an uneditable channel when the one employee who runs the channel leaves.
Sharing access to Facebook isn’t difficult, but there are a lot of little things that can make it tricky for people who don’t work with Facebook every day. Your agency will likely need access to your Facebook page, ad account, and Instagram profile. Here’s all the info you’ll need in order to get your agency access to everything they’ll need.
Pages & Profiles. . .What's the difference?
Businesses have Facebook pages, while people have Facebook profiles. You manage a Facebook page through a personal Facebook profile. It’s pretty simple.
To share access to your Facebook page, you’re going to need to log into your profile, navigate to the page and grant access to the profile of the user at your new agency.
And a little bit of helpful wisdom: connect your Facebook page to a real person’s active profile. Do not set up a dummy profile to be used only for work. It is likely to be deleted and then you will no longer be able to access your Facebook page.
Business Manager vs. Standard Page
The specific steps you’ll need to take to grant Facebook access depend on whether you have a Business Manager account or if you’re just managing a Facebook page. No idea what I’m talking about?
When you login, do you go to business.facebook.com or facebook.com? If it’s business.facebook.com, then you have a Business Manager account and you’ll be taking different steps than someone who goes in through facebook.com.
Now, we think the easiest way to grant access to everything in Facebook is through a Business Manager account. It combines your company’s pages and ad accounts all in one place. You only have to grant access one time. Then you’ll be able to manage which resources your new agency partner will have access to all in one place.
If you don’t have a Business Manager account, you may want to consider setting one up.
Facebook Business Manager
If you have a Business Manager account, here’s how to help your new partner get in.
Log in to the Facebook Business Manager.
Go to Business Settings.
Click People.
Click Add.
Enter the work email address of the person you want to add.
Select the role you'd like to assign them. Be sure to read the description for each role. Choose either Employee access or Admin access. You can also select Show Advanced Options to choose Finance analyst or Finance editor.
Click Next.
Select the asset and the task access you want to assign the person.
Click Invite.
Facebook Page
But if you don’t have a Business Manager account, there’s no need to fret. You can still allow users to manage your Facebook page. You can only grant access to a page if you’re an admin, so make sure you have those permissions before you try to add any new users. Here’s how.
Pro tip: Become friends with the person you’re trying to add first. This will make it much easier to find them and send the invitation later on.
Log in to Facebook.com.
From your Feed, click Pages in the left menu. You may have to click See More first.
Go to your page and click Settings in the left menu.
Click Page Roles.
Below Assign a new Page role, type a name or email in the box and select the person from the list that appears. (This will be much easier if you become friends first.)
Click Editor and select a role from the dropdown menu.
Click Add and enter your password to confirm.
Facebook Ad Account
Now that you’ve got the user added to your company page, here’s how to add them to your Facebook ad account.
Go to Ads Manager Settings. You may be asked to re-enter your password.
Under Ad Account Roles, select Add People.
Enter the name or email address of the person you want to give access to.
Use the dropdown menu to choose their role and then click Confirm.
Instagram is owned by Facebook and the two platforms are closely linked, but they can be used separately.
If your Instagram is connected to a Facebook Business Manager account, then your new agency partner will be able to get in as soon as they’ve been added to your Business Manager account (see steps above).
If your Instagram account is connected to your Facebook ad account, then the agency will be able to start running ads on Instagram as soon as they’re in your ad account (scroll up like half a scroll).
If you just want them to post to your Instagram, all you need to do is send over your email and password. This is one of the easiest ones yet.
Like Instagram, just share your username and password. Why can’t they all be this straightforward?
LinkedIn & LinkedIn Ads
On LinkedIn, your new agency will probably need access to your company page and/or your ad account. You can’t run ads without access to the ad account.
You can only add someone as an admin to your page if they’re a connection. So not only are you gaining an agency, you’re growing your network. Win-win.
Adding a New Company Page Admin
After you’ve connected with the right person at your new agency partner, follow these instructions to add them as an admin to your company page.
Log in to LinkedIn.com.
Navigate to your company page.
Click the Admin tools dropdown at the top of the page and select Manage admins.
Click the Page admins or Paid media admins tab.
Click the Add admin button.
Type the name of the member, associated employee, or advertiser you’d like to add in the Search for a member… text field.
Click the member’s name from the menu that appears.
Select the correct admin role.
Only one page admin role can be assigned per person, but more than one paid media admin role can be assigned. Paid media admin roles can be granted without an associated Campaign Manager ads account.
Click the Save button.
Connecting with Ad Account
Now that your agency connection is an admin on the company page, it’s time to get them into your campaign manager. Just follow these steps.
Sign in to Campaign Manager.
Click the correct account name.
Click the account name in the upper-right corner of the page and select Manage access from the dropdown.
Click Edit in the upper-right corner of the Manage access pop-up window.
Click + Add user to account in the upper-left corner of the User Permissions pop-up window.
Enter the name of the user or LinkedIn Profile URL and select the correct name from the dropdown list.
Select a role from the dropdown list. Learn more about roles and functions for account users.
Click Save Changes.
Your Website
Your new agency will almost certainly need access to the back end of your website.
The first step is to ask your IT team or web developer. They should (hopefully) know what to do. If you’re running things on your own, it will be a bit more difficult, but not impossible.
There are dozens of different content management systems and the process for adding another user will be different for each. It would be impossible for us to include steps for everyCMS, but here’s how to add a user for a few of the most common options.
If you’re used to a slow and frustrating process when sharing digital account access, this guide will be your best friend. And, if you have any questions, we’re always here to help.
