Connect Meta Ads
You create a system user token in Meta, copy your ad account id, and paste both into MarqIQ. Connecting registers Meta Ads as a reporting data source and reserves the fields it will contribute. The sync that fills those fields is not live yet, so nothing from Meta appears in a report today. If you want spend and conversions in a report this week, connect your CRM instead and read See which channels produced pipeline.
Before you start
Nothing syncs from Meta yet
The Meta Ads page carries an Early access badge and a notice headed "Data sync for Meta Ads is in early access". Connecting stores and keeps your credentials. It does not start a sync, it does not fill a report, and the connection shows no record count. MarqIQ enables your connection on its own when the sync ships. Connect now to have the credentials in place, not to see numbers today.
Plan required
Meta Ads needs Pro or above. A Starter workspace is refused at the moment it clicks Connect, by name. Pro and Free Trial allow two tools besides Google Tag Manager and one tool per category, so a workspace on either that already has Google Ads or LinkedIn Ads connected cannot add Meta Ads as well. Business allows four tools and sets no per-category rule.
Permissions required
You need someone with admin rights in the Meta business portfolio that owns the ad account, because only an admin can create a system user and generate a token for it. MarqIQ asks for read access only: the token needs `ads_read` and nothing more.
- Your Ad Account ID, the value Meta shows with an `act_` prefix, as in act_123456789.
- A long-lived system user Access Token carrying `ads_read`.
- A workspace on Free Trial, Pro, Business or Enterprise, with a free tool slot in the Advertising category.
Get the credentials from Meta
MarqIQ does not run a Meta sign-in flow. You generate the token in Meta’s own business settings and paste it in.
Open Business settings for the business portfolio that owns the ad account.
Reach it from the gear icon in Meta Business Suite. A personal ad account that sits in no business portfolio cannot have a system user, so move it into one first.
Go to Users then System users.
Click Add.
Name the new system user MarqIQ.
Meta attributes API activity to that system user, so a named one makes MarqIQ’s reads identifiable later.
Assign the ad account to that system user under Assets then Ad accounts.
Grant view-level access. MarqIQ never changes anything in Meta, so no manage-level permission is needed.
Click Generate new token on your MarqIQ system user.
Choose the app the token belongs to.
Any app in the same business portfolio works. Meta requires a token to be issued against an app; MarqIQ does not care which one.
Tick `ads_read` and nothing else.
Meta’s Marketing API reference at developers.facebook.com/docs/marketing-apis sets out what each permission covers. That is the same link the Meta Ads page in MarqIQ shows as API docs.
Copy the token Meta shows you.
Meta shows a system user token once. Store it in your password manager before you close the dialog, because you cannot read it back from Meta afterwards.
Copy your ad account id from Ads Manager.
It is the number beside the account name in the account picker, and Meta writes it as act_123456789 in the Marketing API.
Connect it in MarqIQ
Open Integrations in MarqIQ.
The page lists the tools chosen during onboarding plus anything already connected. Meta Ads sits under the Advertising heading once it is on the page.
Click Add more if Meta Ads is not on the page yet.
That opens the full catalogue, where every tool MarqIQ offers is listed.
Click the Meta Ads card.
A card reading Upgrade required means this workspace is below Pro. Clicking it opens the pricing page rather than the connect form.
Paste your ad account id into Ad Account ID.
The box is prefilled with the example act_123456789. MarqIQ stores what you type exactly as you type it and does not check the format, so a missing `act_` prefix or a stray space is saved as given.
Paste your system user token into Access Token.
The hint under the box reads "Long-lived system user token with ads_read". A short-lived user token is accepted here and stops working when Meta expires it.
Click Connect.
MarqIQ checks your plan and your tool allowance, checks that both fields are filled, encrypts the pair and saves them. It does not call Meta, so a wrong or expired token is saved without complaint.
Check the Connection active panel that replaces the form.
It shows your Ad Account ID in full and your Access Token masked to its last four characters. The connection is named "Meta Ads — act_123456789" in your integrations list, so the account id is visible everywhere the connection is.
There is no update-token button
Once Meta Ads is connected the form is replaced by the Connection active panel, so a token cannot be overwritten in place. To replace an expired token, click Disconnect, confirm "Disconnect Meta Ads?", and connect again with the new one. Disconnecting removes the stored credentials, records the action in your activity log, and keeps everything else.
What comes across once it is connected
Today, nothing. Connecting registers Meta Ads as a reporting data source and reserves the dimensions and metrics below. The sync that would fill them is in early access and is not running. The Available in Reporting panel on the Meta Ads page lists them so you can see what the source will contribute.
| Dimensions | Metrics |
|---|---|
| Campaign | Impressions |
| Ad Set | Clicks |
| Ad | Spend |
| Placement | Reach |
| — | Conversions |
| — | CPC |
The ten fields Meta Ads is declared to contribute to reporting: four dimensions and six metrics. None of them carries a value until the sync ships.
- Your connection appears on Data Sources under Advertising & Analytics, marked Connected.
- The right of that row reads "Mapping only · no record sync yet". Hover it and MarqIQ says it does not pull Meta Ads records yet, so there is nothing to sync or audit from it.
- That line names field mapping, and Meta Ads has no field mapping either. Mapping UTM fields onto records is limited to CRM and marketing-automation tools.
- The connection shows no last-sync date. MarqIQ deliberately leaves that empty rather than stamping the moment you connected, which would read as though records had arrived.
- No Sync button appears on the card, because there is no sync engine behind Meta Ads.
What MarqIQ writes back to Meta
Nothing. MarqIQ makes no call to Meta at all on this connection — not at connect time, and not afterwards. It creates no campaign, changes no budget, pauses no ad and adds no audience. The token is asked to carry `ads_read` for that reason.
What connecting Meta Ads does not unlock
- None of the nine analyses. Source truth, Field discipline, Forecast accuracy, Audience health, Lead scoring, Funnel, Form fills, Email and Automations all read the synced record store, which only a CRM or marketing-automation tool fills.
- The Integration Audit Report, for the same reason.
- Field Mapping. It covers CRM and marketing-automation tools only; an ads source has no contact properties to map to.
- Template Studio. It authors for HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot and Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
- Change sets and Tool Operations. MarqIQ writes nothing to Meta, so there is nothing to propose or apply.
Tip
If what you want is Meta spend beside the revenue it produced, tag your Meta ad links with UTMs. The tracking script and your CRM then carry the source through to your reports. That path works today on every plan. Build a tagged link covers it.
If it did not work
"Meta Ads is part of the Pro plan — this workspace is on Starter."
Why: The catalogue marks Meta Ads Pro-and-above, and the connect route checks your plan before it looks at anything you typed. The refusal names your current plan back to you.
Fix: Move to Pro or above, then connect again. Nothing you typed was saved, so paste both values afresh.
"Pro includes 2 tools besides Google Tag Manager, and this workspace has connected 2 …"
Why: Your plan sets a total number of tools and you are at it. Google Tag Manager is exempt and never counts; your AI engine keys never count either. The message lists the tools that do.
Fix: Disconnect one of the tools the message names, or move up a plan. Business raises the total to four, and Enterprise sets no total.
"Pro allows 1 tool from this category, and Google Ads is already connected."
Why: Meta Ads, Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads are all in the Advertising category, and Pro allows one tool per category however many slots are left.
Fix: Disconnect the other advertising tool, or move to Business or above, which allows more than one from the same category.
"Missing required field: Ad Account ID" or "Missing required fields: Ad Account ID, Access Token"
Why: One of the two fields was empty or held only spaces. MarqIQ names every field it is short of, using the label printed above the box.
Fix: Fill the field the message names and click Connect again.
"This workspace is read-only. Renew the subscription to connect tools."
Why: The subscription has lapsed. A read-only workspace can open its data and connect nothing.
Fix: Renew under Account & Team on Plan & billing, then connect again.
The connection saved although the token was wrong
Why: MarqIQ does not contact Meta when you connect. It checks your plan and that both fields are filled, then encrypts and stores what you gave it. Nothing goes to Meta, so nothing comes back to say the token is bad.
Fix: Check the token in Meta yourself before you rely on it. To replace it, click Disconnect, then connect again with the correct value — there is no in-place update.
Meta Ads is connected and the reports still show no Meta spend
Why: Automated data sync for this source is in early access and is not running. This is the expected state, not a fault with your credentials.
Fix: Nothing to do. MarqIQ enables your connection when the sync ships. In the meantime, tag your Meta links with UTMs so what that spend produces reaches your CRM through the tracking script.
Disconnect runs and you cannot tell whether it worked
Why: The Meta Ads page never prints what the disconnect answered. Where the connection had already been removed — in another tab, or by someone else in the workspace — MarqIQ answers "Integration not found." and the page says nothing about it.
Fix: Read the page instead of the message. The connect form in place of the Connection active panel means the connection is gone. Reload the Meta Ads page if it has not changed.
Next steps
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