The Ads area in Tolstoy is where you connect your Meta (Facebook and Instagram) ad account, review how your ads perform, manage campaigns, create new ads with Tolstoy's AI agent, and publish your Tolstoy videos to a Meta product catalog. This guide walks you through each part.
Log in at https://platform.gotolstoy.com and click Ads in the left navigation to get started.
What You Can Do in Ads
Meta ads – browse your ad creative and see how it performs.
Generated creatives – review images and videos generated across your chats.
Manage campaigns – see your campaigns, ad sets and ads, and start a new ad.
Catalogs – connect a Meta catalog and enrich it with Tolstoy videos for Advantage+ catalog ads.
Google Ads and TikTok Ads also appear in the Ads menu. This guide covers Meta ads only.
Before You Start
You need a Meta ad account.
For the Permanent connection (recommended) you need a Meta business portfolio that you manage. Set it up from a computer – it is not available on mobile.
For catalog ads, Tolstoy requires the ads_management and catalog_management permissions on your Meta account.
How to Connect Your Meta Account
Click Ads in the left navigation, then select Meta ads.
Click Connect Meta Ads. (If you are on the Manage campaigns page, click Connect Meta Account instead.)
Choose how to connect: Permanent connection (recommended) stays connected with no periodic reconnects and requires a Meta business portfolio you manage. Standard connection is for stores that don't manage a business portfolio – you will need to reconnect periodically.
Follow the Meta prompts to approve access and pick your ad account.
Once connected, your Meta ads and campaigns load in Tolstoy. If you have more than one ad account, use the ad account selector on the Manage campaigns page to switch between them.
How to Review Your Ad Performance
Go to Ads > Meta ads.
Use the filters at the top (account, campaigns and date range, for example Last 30 days or custom dates) to choose what you want to see.
Click View analytics to open the ads analytics view.
To see images and videos generated for you in chat, select Generated creatives in the Ads menu and review them across your chats.
How to Manage Your Campaigns
Go to Ads > Meta ads and click Manage campaigns.
Use the Campaigns, Ad sets and Ads tabs to move between levels.
Choose the date range and the performance columns you want to see.
Click a row to open its details.
Use Optimize to ask Tolstoy's AI agent to review your campaigns and suggest improvements, or Set up routines to ask it which routines (for example, automatic pausing) could reduce your manual work.
How to Create a New Ad
Go to Ads > Meta ads > Manage campaigns.
Click Create new ad. Tolstoy opens a chat with the prompt Create a new Meta Ads campaign for me.
Choose the project you want to use, then send the prompt.
Answer the agent's questions and review what it proposes before anything goes live.
How to Publish Tolstoy Videos to Your Meta Catalog (Catalog Ads)
Go to Ads > Meta ads > Manage campaigns and click Catalogs.
If you haven't connected yet, click Connect Meta Account and approve the requested permissions.
Pick your catalog in the Meta Catalog selector.
Under Media Settings > Media Types to Publish, choose Videos only or Videos and images.
Under Project Sources, use Include Playlists to add the playlists whose media you want in the catalog.
Click Publish to Meta. After the first publish the button reads Sync to Meta; click it whenever you want to push changes. Meta updates within a few minutes.
To take the videos out of your catalog, click Unpublish.
Best Practices
Use the Permanent connection if you manage a Meta business portfolio, so you don't need to reconnect.
Check the date range before comparing results – numbers change with the range you select.
Review everything the AI agent proposes before it launches.
In the catalog view, filter to Products with videos to check which products already have Tolstoy videos.
Troubleshooting and FAQs
I don't see any campaigns or ads.
Make sure your Meta account is connected, the right ad account is selected, and your filters and date range aren't hiding them.
Tolstoy says I need to reconnect Meta.
Your Meta connection has expired. Click Reconnect Meta Account and complete the Meta prompts. A Permanent connection avoids periodic reconnects.
Which Meta permissions does Tolstoy need?
Catalog features require ads_management and catalog_management.
The Meta catalog connection is unavailable.
Click Try again, or Review connection status on the Catalogs page. If it persists, contact support.
Can I run Google or TikTok ads from Tolstoy?
Google Ads and TikTok Ads appear in the Ads menu, but this guide covers Meta ads. Contact support for the current status of those channels.
How long does a catalog sync take?
After you click Publish to Meta or Sync to Meta, your Meta catalog updates within a few minutes.