Connect Meta Ads

Connect Meta Ads to bring your Facebook and Instagram ad data into Nexus. The connection also lets Nexus deploy ads to your account. Find it at Settings > Integrations, on the Meta Ads card.

Problem and intended user

The media buyer (the person who runs your paid ads) needs Nexus to read the right Meta ad account and to publish ads under the right Facebook Page, Instagram identity and pixel. A wrong or missing choice can send ad data from the wrong account, make a deployed ad fail, or leave conversions untracked.

Current workflow

Without Nexus, the media buyer copies results from Meta Ads Manager into a spreadsheet to compare with store data. To launch an ad, they upload the creative there and pick the Page, Instagram account and pixel again for each campaign.

Prerequisites

• Meta ad account: one that you can access.
• Facebook Page: you need admin or advertiser access to it.
• Meta Pixel: Nexus needs it for conversion tracking and Target ROAS bidding. You can connect without one and add it later.
• Browser: allow pop-ups for Nexus. The Facebook login opens in a pop-up window.
• Ad budget: to create a campaign in Nexus, you need an ad budget. See Set your ad budget below.

How Nexus works

Nexus reads ad data from the Meta ad account you choose, and uses your Page, Instagram identity and pixel when it deploys ads. Fixed rules do this work. AI does not take part.

You approve access yourself, in the Facebook pop-up or by creating a token in Meta. Each setup choice needs your Confirm (or Create Instagram identity), or you skip it. Each choice feeds one feature:

Setting	What Nexus uses it for
Ad account	The account that Nexus reads ad data from. See Ad performance.
Facebook Page	The identity of your ad creatives when you deploy.
Instagram identity	Required on every ad that runs on Instagram placements (Feed, Stories and Reels).
Meta Pixel	Conversion tracking and Target ROAS bidding.

Nexus uses the connection in these places: Ad performance, Review and deploy ads, Campaigns, Launch monitor and Audiences.

Nexus updates your Meta ads on its own while Meta is connected. Settings > Store Status shows the sync. See Store Status. To sync sooner, use Sync Now or Full Sync on Performance > Ad performance.

Choose how to connect

Tab	Best for	Trade-off
Connect via OAuth	Most stores. You sign in with Facebook.	The token lasts 60 days. Nexus renews it before it expires. The card shows the Valid until date.
Enter Token	Stores that want a connection that never expires.	You create a System User Token in Meta first.

Connect with Facebook login

1. Go to Settings > Integrations and click the Meta Ads card.
2. Stay on the Connect via OAuth tab.
3. Click Connect Meta Ads.
4. Sign in and approve access in the pop-up window.

When the pop-up closes, Nexus moves you to the setup steps below.

Connect with a System User Token

1. Open the Meta Ads card and select the Enter Token tab.
2. In Meta Business Settings, open Users > System Users. Create a System User with the Admin role, or select an existing one.
3. Click Add Assets. Add your ad account with Full Control.
4. Under Apps, select your app. Click Add People and give the System User the Admin role.
5. Back in System Users, click Generate New Token. Enable ads_read, ads_management and business_management.
6. Set the token expiration to Never. Click Generate Token and copy the token.
7. Paste the token into System User Token in Nexus.
8. Click Save & Validate.

Pick what Nexus uses

WARNING

If you skip a step, the card shows No ad account selected, No page connected or No pixel connected. Meta requires an Instagram identity on ads that run on Instagram, so ad deployment fails until you resolve a skipped Instagram step.

After you connect, Nexus asks for up to four choices, one after the other. Each step has Skip for now. The steps that ask you to select something also have Confirm.

1. Select Ad Account. Select the account and click Confirm.
2. Select Facebook Page. Select the Page to publish ads from and click Confirm.
3. Instagram identity required. This step appears only when your Page has no linked Instagram Business Account and no Page-Backed Instagram Account. Click Create Instagram identity. Meta creates a Page-Backed Instagram Account from your Page. It does not need an Instagram sign-up and does not show as a public profile. To use a real account instead, link it to your Page in Meta Business Suite, then reopen the dialog.
4. Select Meta Pixel. Select the pixel and click Confirm.

If the pixel list is empty, the step shows No Meta Pixels found for this ad account. Create a pixel in Meta Events Manager. Choose Connect Data Sources, then Web. Name the pixel and enter your website address. Come back and click Refresh.

Set your ad budget

1. Open the Meta Ads card after you connect.
2. Select Set up ad budget.
3. Enter the Monthly Budget. The form shows the daily amount under it.
4. Choose a Bid Strategy: Lowest Cost, Cost Cap, Target ROAS or Maximize Value.
5. Enter Target CPA when you choose Cost Cap, or Target ROAS (×) when you choose Target ROAS.
6. Click Save.

An empty or zero amount shows Monthly budget must be greater than 0. Target ROAS shows a warning when no Meta Pixel is linked.

After you save, the panel reads Ad Budget and shows Monthly, Daily, Strategy and Campaigns. Click Edit to change it. For the rest, see Campaigns.

WARNING

Rebalance acts at once and asks for no confirmation. It splits the daily budget equally across your campaigns and updates the daily budget of campaigns already deployed on Meta. It stays off while you have only one campaign, or none.

Check or change your connection

Open the Meta Ads card at any time. On the Instagram row, Change opens Instagram identity. Click Refresh from Meta there to pick up a newly linked Instagram account.

Click Check connectivity to test the connection. If it is expired or in error, check again, or click Disconnect and connect again.

Disconnect acts at once and asks for no confirmation. It deletes the Meta sign-in that Nexus stored, and the ad account, Page, Instagram identity and pixel you chose. After you connect again, choose them again. It does not delete or pause ads you already published. Ads that already run in Meta keep running. Nexus stops reading and managing them until you connect again.

Disconnect does not remove the Nexus app from your Meta account. To remove the app there, use Meta Business Settings.

Nexus encrypts your credentials before it stores them.

Reconnect when Meta stops the connection

Meta can end a connection that looks valid, for example after a password change or a security check. Nexus then cannot read your ads, and the ad sync stops. Nexus shows this in two places:

• Performance > Ad performance shows the card Meta Ads needs to be reconnected. It says: "The ad sync stopped. Reconnect to import the missing days." If Google Ads has the same problem, the title reads Meta Ads and Google Ads need to be reconnected.
• On Settings > Integrations, the Meta Ads card shows the ERROR badge. Open the card. The dialog shows Connection error with the message "Meta no longer accepts this connection. Reconnect Meta Ads to resume the ad sync".

How you reconnect depends on how you connected.

If you connected with OAuth

WARNING

An OAuth reconnect clears your ad account, Page, Instagram identity and pixel choices. Select them again, or the sync cannot resume.

1. Click Reconnect on the card. The accessible name is Reconnect Meta Ads. The Meta Ads dialog opens.
2. Click Reconnect Meta Ads.
3. Sign in and approve access in the pop-up window.
4. Select your ad account in Select Ad Account and click Confirm. Choose the Page, Instagram identity and pixel again.

If you connected with a System User Token

The dialog has no Reconnect Meta Ads button. It says "Enter a new System User Token below" and shows the token form.

1. Open the Meta Ads card.
2. Paste a new System User Token.
3. Click Save & Validate. Your ad account choice stays.

Nexus imports the missing days on the next sync. Use Sync Now on Performance > Ad performance to start it sooner. If you restore the permission in Meta without reconnecting, the next sync can clear the card by itself.

Exact output

The dialog before you connect

It has the Connect via OAuth and Enter Token tabs and the Connect Meta Ads button.

The reconnect card

When Meta ends the connection, Performance > Ad performance shows this card.

The dialog after you connect

The dialog shows:

• The status: Connected, Connection expired, Connection error or Status unknown.
• A label for the method: OAuth or System User Token.
• The dates next to Connected, Expires and Checked. Expires shows only when the connection has an expiry date.
• Rows for Ad Account, Page, Instagram and Pixel, each with a Change or Select button. The Instagram row offers Change only after you select a Page.
• The Set up ad budget button. After you save a budget, an Ad Budget panel with Monthly, Daily, Strategy, Campaigns, Edit and Rebalance replaces it.

On the Meta Ads card, Valid until shows the expiry date of an OAuth token and the days left. The card turns amber when the date is close.

What to do with it

What you see	Decision or action	Owner
No ad account selected, No page connected or No pixel connected on the card	Open the card and finish the open step.	media buyer
Pixel list is empty	Create a pixel in Meta Events Manager, outside Nexus. Then click Refresh.	media buyer
Meta Ads needs to be reconnected, or the ERROR badge on the card with the message "Meta no longer accepts this connection. Reconnect Meta Ads to resume the ad sync" in the dialog	With OAuth, click Reconnect, sign in, and select the ad account again. With a System User Token, enter a new token and click Save & Validate.	media buyer
Connection expired or Connection error	Click Check connectivity. If it still fails, click Disconnect and connect again.	media buyer
No ad budget in the dialog	Select Set up ad budget and save a budget.	media buyer
An amber Valid until date on an OAuth connection	Wait. Nexus renews the token before it expires. Act only when the status shows Connection expired or Connection error.	media buyer
You want a token that never expires	Click Disconnect, then connect with Enter Token.	media buyer

Expected value and measurement

A complete connection can help you see Meta results beside your store data, and deploy ads with every identity in place.

To check it, open Settings > Integrations and confirm the Meta Ads card shows CONNECTED and no amber warning. Then open Performance > Ad performance, choose Meta, and compare You spent with Meta Ads Manager for the same dates. The status bar shows the last sync.

Check that the pixel records conversions in Meta Events Manager, outside Nexus. You cannot isolate the effect of the pixel on Target ROAS bidding from other changes made at the same time.

Limitations and exceptions

• Meta only. For Google ads, see Google Ads.
• Meta shows "No permissions available". If this happens in step 5 of the System User Token steps, repeat step 4.
• Empty ad account list. The step shows No ad accounts found for this connection.
• List errors. The Page step can read Could not load pages. Make sure your Meta account has Page access. Click Skip for now to leave the step. The pixel step can read Could not load pixels. Make sure an ad account is selected. Click Go to connection settings to leave it.
• Unhealthy connection. Status unknown means Nexus has not confirmed the connection. If Nexus cannot renew an OAuth token, the status can turn to Connection error and the card badge reads ERROR. The dialog then tells you to use Check connectivity, or to disconnect and reconnect. Nexus shows the problem on the card and in the dialog only.
• Ended connection. When Meta ends the connection, the ad sync stops until you reconnect. Nexus keeps the data it already imported. It imports the missing days on the next sync after you reconnect. Nexus tells you on the sync card, on the Meta Ads card badge and in the card dialog. See Reconnect when Meta stops the connection above.
• Failed saves. An empty token field shows Please enter a System User Token. Another failed save shows a red message, such as Failed to save credentials. Try again.
• Demo Mode. Nexus blocks connecting and disconnecting a real ad platform. It shows messages such as Disable demo mode to connect real integrations. Choosing an account, Page, Instagram identity or pixel is simulated and changes nothing in Meta.

Related

• Integrations: connect your data sources
• Google Ads
• Ad performance
• Review and deploy ads
• Troubleshooting