Yes, Meta tries to push new advertisers through the "Guided Campaign Setup", which forces you to create an ad before accessing full features.
But there’s a simple workaround:
1. Start the campaign setup as prompted (even if you don’t plan to finish it).
2. When you reach the Ad Creation step, look for an option that says “Switch to Expert Mode” or “Skip”—if it appears, click that.
3. If you don’t see a skip option:
- Just create a basic dummy campaign with minimal input (select any objective, add placeholder text).
- Save it as a draft and don’t publish.
4. Once that’s done, you’ll unlock full access to Business Settings, Ad Accounts, Audiences, Events Manager, etc.
5. You can then delete the draft campaign or leave it inactive.
Tip:
After unlocking full access, you’ll be able to create campaigns in Expert Mode from then on—this is just a one-time step Meta uses to guide beginners.