How to Connect Facebook Ads to Looker Studio

Tired of manually exporting Facebook Ads data into messy spreadsheets just to build a clunky report? You're not alone. Bringing your Facebook Ads performance into Looker Studio (now Google Data Studio) transforms your reporting from a tedious manual chore into a powerful, automated process. This guide will walk you through exactly how to connect the two platforms, what to watch out for, and how to build your first simple, effective dashboard.

Why Bother Connecting Facebook Ads to Looker Studio?

Diving into another tool might seem like one more thing on your to-do list, but the benefits are massive and will save you hours of work every single week. When you pipe your Facebook Ads data directly into Looker Studio, you unlock a new level of reporting power that the native Ads Manager just can't match.

• Fully Automated Reporting: Set up your dashboard once, and it’s done. The data will refresh automatically, usually every day or even every hour, depending on your setup. This means no more late-night data pulls before a big meeting. Your report is always live and always accurate.
• Unify All Your Marketing Data: This is the real game-changer. Looker Studio allows you to pull in data from multiple sources into a single dashboard. You can display your Facebook Ads performance right next to your Google Analytics traffic data, your Google Ads costs, and your email marketing conversion rates. For the first time, you can see your entire marketing funnel - from ad click to website conversion to lead nurture - on one screen.
• Unlimited Customization: You are no longer stuck with Facebook’s rigid dashboard layout. Do you want to see a performance breakdown by ad creative? A map visualizing performance by country? Or maybe a table comparing your top ten campaigns by Return On Ad Spend (ROAS)? Whatever report you can dream up for your team, your boss, or your clients, you can build it in Looker Studio.
• Deeper, Actionable Insights: By slicing and dicing your data visually, you can spot trends and opportunities you’d miss inside Ads Manager. Is a specific creative driving a lower CPA across all audiences? Is your cost per result spiking on weekends? A live dashboard makes answering these types of questions incredibly easy.

The Catch: Facebook Doesn't Have a Native Looker Studio Connector

So, you’re sold on the idea and ready to get started. You open Looker Studio, click “Add Data,” search for Facebook Ads, and… nothing. At least, not an official connector built by Google or Meta.

This is the most important thing to understand upfront. Because Looker Studio is a Google product and Facebook Ads is a Meta product, there's no free, built-in bridge that allows them to talk to each other directly. To make this connection happen, you need to use something called a third-party partner connector.

Think of it like a translator. The connector service is specifically designed to pull data from the Facebook Ads API (its data feed), organize it, and then deliver it to Looker Studio in a format that Looker Studio can digest and display. While this might sound complicated, the process is surprisingly straightforward with the right tool.

Choosing Your Data Connector: Your Options Explained

There are dozens of partner connectors available, and most of them work in a similar way. They generally fall into one of two categories, each catering to different needs and technical comfort levels.

Option 1: The All-in-One Connectors (The Go-To for Most Marketers)

These are subscription-based services that specialize in making data connections simple. Companies like Supermetrics, Power My Analytics, and Funnel offer user-friendly connectors for a huge range of marketing platforms, including Facebook Ads, TikTok Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and more.

• How they work: You sign up for their service, authorize them to access your Facebook Ad account, and then they appear as a connectable data source within Looker Studio’s gallery.
• Pros: This is by far the easiest and fastest way to get set up. It requires zero coding, you often get access to pre-built report templates, and they offer customer support if you get stuck. The best ones are incredibly reliable.
• Cons: There is an ongoing cost. Pricing is usually based on how many ad accounts or data sources you connect, and it can become a notable expense if you manage many clients. However, the time saved usually provides a clear return on the investment.

Option 2: The DIY Warehouse Route (For the Tech-Savvy)

This approach involves using an ELT (Extract, Load, Transform) tool to pull raw data from Facebook Ads, load it into a data warehouse like Google BigQuery, and then connect Looker Studio to your BigQuery data.

• How it works: You’d use a pipeline service like Fivetran or Stitch to regularly copy your Facebook data into BigQuery tables. Then you'd use the native BigQuery connector in Looker Studio.
• Pros: You have complete ownership and control of your raw data. At a massive scale (think enterprise-level spend), this can sometimes be more cost-effective than an all-in-one connector.
• Cons: This is much, much more complex. It requires setting up and maintaining multiple services and often involves a foundational understanding of SQL and data warehousing. It's ideal for data teams but overkill for a solo marketer or small business.

Our Recommendation: For 99% of marketers, entrepreneurs, and content creators reading this, an all-in-one partner connector is the best solution. It strikes the perfect balance between power, ease of use, and cost. We'll focus the rest of this guide on setting things up that way.

The Step-by-Step Guide: Connecting Your Data with a Partner Connector

The exact clicks might vary slightly depending on which connector you choose (Supermetrics, Windsor.ai, etc.), but the fundamental process is virtually identical across all of them.

Step 1: Choose and Sign Up for a Connector

Start by researching a few of the top partner connectors. Nearly all of them offer a 14-day free trial, which is more than enough time to get everything set up and see if it works for you. Pick one that feels right for your budget and get your free trial started.

Step 2: Access Your Facebook Ad Account

Once you've created an account with your chosen connector service, its platform will guide you through adding your data sources. When you select Facebook Ads, you'll be redirected to a Facebook login screen. It's important to use a Facebook profile that has at least "Advertiser" access to the ad account you want to report on. You'll grant the connector a series of permissions to read your ads performance data.

Step 3: Create a New Data Source in Looker Studio

Now, head over to lookerstudio.google.com and open a blank report or find the data source manager.

1. Click the Add data button.
2. You'll now see the gallery of available connectors. In the search bar at the top, type the name of the service you just signed up for (e.g., "Supermetrics").
3. Select it, and Looker Studio will then ask you to authorize your Google account to use this connector. Just click through the prompts to approve it.

Step 4: Configure Your Source Settings

After you authorize the connector, a configuration window will pop up. This is where you tell the connector exactly what data you want to pull from Facebook.

• Select Ad Account(s): First, you'll see a list of all the ad accounts your Facebook profile has access to. Select the one(s) you want to include in this data source.
• Set the Date Range: Choose a default date range, like "Last 28 days." Don't worry, you can easily add a date filter to your finished report later to let users choose their own timeframe.
• Choose Dimensions and Metrics: This is the most important part. You will see a long list of available data points.
  Dimensions
  are the "what" or "who" - the attributes that describe your data. Things like
  Campaign name, Ad set name, Ad name, Age, Gender, Device
  , etc.
  Metrics
  are the numbers - the quantifiable measurements. Things like
  Amount spent, Impressions, Clicks (Link), Conversions, Cost per purchase, CPM
  , etc.
  Go through the list and check the box next to every dimension and metric you think you might want to use in your report. It's better to select too many than too few, as you can't add more later without editing the data source.

Step 5: Click "Create Report" and Start Building

Once you are happy with your configuration, look for the "Connect" or "Add" button, usually in the top right corner. Click it. Looker Studio will process for a moment and then show you a list of all the fields you selected. Finally, click Create Report or Add to Report, and you’ll be taken to a blank dashboard canvas. Your Facebook Ads data is now officially connected and ready to go!

Bonus: Building Your First Basic Dashboard

Now for the fun part! While Looker Studio is incredibly deep, you don’t need to be an expert to build something useful. Create these three simple elements to give you a clear, top-level overview of account performance instantly.

• KPI Scorecards: At the very top, add a few "Scorecard" charts. These display a single, important number. Make one for Amount Spent, another for Link Clicks, one for Website Purchases (or Leads), and another for your primary Cost per Action (CPA).
• A Performance Over Time Chart: Add a "Time series chart" (a line graph) to visualize two key metrics day by day. A common pairing is plotting Amount Spent against your main Conversion metric. This makes it incredibly easy to see if performance dips correlate with changes in spend.
• The Campaign Performance Table: Often the most valuable part of any dashboard is a simple table. Create one that shows your data by Campaign Name as a dimension. Then, add columns for the following metrics: Amount Spent, Impressions, Clicks (Link), your main Conversion metric, CPA, and Return on Ad Spend. Instantly, you can sort this table to see which campaigns are performing best and which are not.

Finally, be sure to add a Date range control to your report. This allows anyone to choose the exact timeframe they're interested in, making your dashboard dynamic and interactive.

Final Thoughts

Connecting Facebook Ads to Looker Studio will revolutionize your reporting process. It moves you from manual data entry to automated, real-time insights. By using a third-party connector, you can build powerful dashboards that provide a clear view of your performance day-in and day-out, unlocking deeper strategic insights minus the manual workload.