Setup Guide for Hour 8 · Ad Platforms

Connecting Your Store to Ad Platforms

A practical walkthrough for getting your domain, store, and product catalog ready to spend money on Meta, TikTok, Google, and Pinterest. Same setup pattern across all four — slightly different naming.

Before You Start · Five Things You'll Need Everywhere

Every ad platform asks for the same five things

Every platform asks for the same five things, just under different names. Get them set up once, in this order, and you'll move through Meta, TikTok, Google, and Pinterest in a few hours each instead of getting stuck.

1 · Domain & DNS access
You need to add TXT/CNAME records to verify domain ownership. Cloudflare, Namecheap, etc.
2 · Storefront / store admin
Shopify admin or whichever platform you're using to embed pixels.
3 · Business email on your domain
support@yourbrand.com — required for verification on most platforms.
4 · Business documents
EIN, LLC docs (already done — see Hour 7 status table).
5 · Product catalog feed
Shopify generates this automatically. Other platforms need a Google Merchant Center feed (CSV or auto-synced).
Platform · Meta
Meta — Facebook + Instagram
Start here

Meta is the most mature ad platform for ecom and the one most setup guides assume. Once Meta is set up, the others get easier — most concepts (pixel, conversions API, catalog) work the same way. Budget 60–90 minutes for first-time setup.

Setup steps
  1. Create a Meta Business Suite account at business.facebook.com. Use the founder email, not a personal Facebook profile.
  2. Create a Business Page for your brand inside Business Suite. Upload logo, banner, "About" copy, and link your store URL.
  3. Verify your domain. Business Suite → Brand Safety → Domains. Add your domain and choose meta-tag, DNS TXT record, or HTML file upload. DNS TXT is cleanest if you have Cloudflare/Namecheap access.
  4. Create a Meta Pixel in Events Manager. Shopify users: install the official "Facebook & Instagram" app and it connects automatically. Otherwise, paste the pixel code into your theme's <head>.
  5. Set up the Conversions API (CAPI). Critical post-iOS 14 — it sends server-side events Apple's privacy changes broke. Shopify's official app does this in one click. Manual setup uses CAPI Gateway or a partner integration.
  6. Create a Product Catalog. Commerce Manager → Catalogs. Connect to Shopify directly or upload a feed. This powers Dynamic Product Ads — the biggest single conversion lift on Meta.
  7. Verify Instagram is linked to the Business Page so ads can run across both. Switch your IG to a Professional / Business account if you haven't.
  8. Add billing. Ads Manager → Payment methods. Use the business credit card.
Common gotcha: Domain verification can take up to 72 hours to propagate but usually finishes in 10 minutes. If it's stuck, double-check that the TXT record was added at the root domain (not a subdomain).
Platform · TikTok
TikTok — Ads Manager
Best for impulse buys

TikTok Ads Manager mirrors Meta's structure closely. The core difference is the creative — TikTok punishes "polished ad" aesthetics and rewards native, raw, UGC-style video. Setup is faster than Meta. Budget 30–60 minutes.

Setup steps
  1. Create a TikTok Ads Manager account at ads.tiktok.com. Choose "Self-service" and your business region.
  2. Verify your domain in Assets → Events → Web Events. Same TXT record pattern as Meta, different value.
  3. Install the TikTok Pixel. Shopify: install the official TikTok app. Otherwise: copy the pixel from Events Manager into your store's <head>.
  4. Set up Events API (TikTok's CAPI equivalent) for server-side tracking. The Shopify TikTok app does this automatically.
  5. Connect or create a Product Catalog for Shopping Ads. Direct Shopify integration handles this; manual users upload a feed in Catalog Manager.
  6. Link your TikTok organic account (the brand's TikTok profile) so you can boost organic content as ads. This is one of TikTok's strongest features — boosted-organic outperforms cold creative on most accounts.
  7. Add billing. Same pattern as Meta.
Tip: Even if you're not running TikTok ads at launch, create the account and install the pixel anyway. Pixel data starts building from day one and you'll want the audience when you eventually turn ads on.
Platform · Google
Google — Ads + Merchant Center
High-intent buyers

Google has two products you need to wire together: Google Ads (Search + Shopping campaigns) and Google Merchant Center (your product feed). Search ads and Performance Max campaigns both pull from Merchant Center. Budget 60–90 minutes; the Merchant Center feed approval can take 24–72 hours.

Setup steps
  1. Create a Google Ads account at ads.google.com. Skip the "create a campaign" wizard — go straight to "Tools & Settings" → "Switch to Expert Mode."
  2. Set up Google Tag (formerly gtag.js) on your store. Shopify users: enter the Google Ads ID in Online Store → Preferences. Otherwise, paste the tag in your theme.
  3. Create a Google Merchant Center account at merchants.google.com. This holds your product feed.
  4. Verify and claim your domain in Merchant Center. Same TXT record concept; or auto-verify via Google Search Console if it's already connected.
  5. Connect your product feed. Shopify: install the "Google & YouTube" app — it pushes your catalog automatically. Manual: upload a CSV/XML following Google's product spec.
  6. Wait for product approval. Google reviews each product. Common rejection reasons: missing GTIN, image with watermark/promo overlay, mismatched price between feed and landing page.
  7. Link Google Ads ↔ Merchant Center. In Merchant Center → Settings → Linked accounts → Google Ads. This unlocks Shopping campaigns.
  8. Set up conversion tracking. Google Ads → Tools → Conversions → New conversion. Use "Purchase" with value tracking. Shopify pushes this automatically through the Google app.
  9. Add billing.
Common gotcha: If your prices are in different currencies between your store and feed, all products get suspended. Match currencies exactly, including format (USD vs $).
Platform · Pinterest
Pinterest — Business + Ads
Visual categories

Pinterest is the lightest setup of the four and the most underrated for home, fashion, wedding, food, and craft categories. The platform's intent is closer to Google Search than Meta's social feed — people are actively planning purchases. Budget 30–45 minutes.

Setup steps
  1. Create a Pinterest Business account at business.pinterest.com. If you have a personal Pinterest, you can convert it or keep them separate.
  2. Claim your website. Settings → Claimed accounts → Add domain. Add the meta-tag or DNS TXT record.
  3. Install the Pinterest Tag (their pixel). Shopify: install the official Pinterest app for one-click integration. Otherwise: paste the tag into your theme's <head>.
  4. Set up the Conversions API for server-side events — handled automatically by the Shopify app.
  5. Upload or sync your product catalog. Catalog tab → Add data source. Shopify integration auto-syncs; otherwise, upload a feed using the Pinterest catalog spec (very similar to Google's).
  6. Enable Rich Pins so your products show price, availability, and description directly on the pin. Validator at developers.pinterest.com/tools/url-debugger.
  7. Add billing.
Tip: If your products fit a Pinterest aesthetic, set up organic Pins on day one even before running ads. Pinterest is one of few platforms where organic content has a long, compounding lifetime — a Pin from today can drive traffic in 18 months.
Launch-Day Checklist

Verify before spending the first ad dollar

CoWork Angle · Ad Platform Operations

Ad platform setup is a one-time human task — pixels and DNS records can't be automated by an agent. The recurring work, however, is exactly the agentic loop CoWork is built for.

CoWork can do
  • Daily pull of spend, ROAS, and CPA per platform into a single dashboard
  • Flag campaigns where CPA exceeds target by >25%
  • Reconcile platform-reported revenue vs. Shopify-reported revenue
  • Draft weekly performance summary for the team
  • Generate UTM-tagged links for new campaigns from a brief
  • Triage rejected products in Merchant Center and propose fixes
CoWork can't do
  • Click "verify domain" buttons inside ad platforms
  • Add DNS records to your registrar
  • Make creative or strategic budget reallocation decisions
  • Approve a real test purchase
  • Authenticate into the ad platforms on your behalf

In short: set up the platforms once with humans, then let CoWork run the dashboard and the alerts. The four of us only need to look at performance when something is flagged — not every day.