Set up Orbit for your agency
One route, nine stops, then a branch for features only some agencies have. Each stop says who should do it, what to have ready and what you’ll have when you leave.
1. Add your clientsYou’re here
Agency Owner or Admin
Everything in Orbit hangs off a client: their ad accounts, plans, reports, pacing and portal. Connecting a platform asks which client each account belongs to, so clients come first.
Bring
Each client’s company name.
One contact per client, with their first name, last name and email. A client can’t be saved without one.
Leave with
Every client you manage is listed in Clients, with their services set.
Untick Send Invite Email for now. You’ll invite contacts at stop 7, once their portal is ready.
Add a new clientPick them when you create the client, or later with Edit Details. A teammate whose access follows their specialty sees the clients with the matching service.
Edit a client’s details
Watch out for
- A renamed client keeps its old portal address.
- The portal address is built from the client’s name when you create it. Pick names with care.
- Orbit says you don’t have permission to create clients.
- Only an Agency Owner or Admin can. Ask one of them, or ask to have your role changed in Team.
2. Connect your ad platforms
Agency Owner or Admin
Each connection signs Orbit in to one platform with a login that can read your clients’ ad accounts. From then on, Orbit syncs it once a day on its own.
Bring
A login for each platform with access to the ad accounts, ideally one your agency will keep.
Leave with
Every connection shows Connected, with its accounts chosen and each account’s client picked.
Platforms marked Syncs to reports are the ones that send data to reports.
Connect Google Ads or another ad platformA connection with no accounts chosen shows Needs accounts and doesn’t sync.
Each connection takes one Google Analytics property, one Shopify store or one Amazon Seller ID.
Watch out for
- No accounts appear to choose from.
- The login can’t see any ad accounts. Give it access on the platform, or sign in again with a login that has it.
- A platform is connected, but no data arrives.
- Only platforms marked Syncs to reports send data to reports. Microsoft Advertising, Snapchat Ads, X (Twitter) Ads and Google Ads Manager can be connected but don’t send data yet.
3. Assign every account to a client
Agency Owner or Admin
An account’s client decides whose dashboards, reports, pacing and Data chat its data appears in. An account with no client still syncs, but its data shows up nowhere.
Leave with
Account Mapping shows no Unmapped accounts.
Each account belongs to one client.
Assign ad accounts to a client
Watch out for
- A connection says Needs clients.
- Some of its accounts have no client yet. Assign them in Account Mapping.
4. Check your first sync
Anyone at your agency
Assigning an account starts its first sync straight away. Before you build anything on the data, check that it arrived.
Leave with
The Dashboard’s Data sync card shows each connection as Synced, and the Setup strip has gone.
Synced means a sync finished in the last 24 hours. Retry runs a failed one again.
Check when your data last syncedIt goes once a client exists, a platform is connected, every account is mapped and the first data has arrived.
Finish your agency’s setup checklistIt’s the same dashboard the client sees in their portal.
Open a client’s Performance report
Watch out for
- A connection says Failed.
- Press Retry. If it fails again, an Agency Owner or Admin reauthenticates it.
- Older days are missing.
- Recent days come first. Earlier days fill in as Orbit re-syncs them, up to 90 days back with the weekly sync.
5. Invite your team
Agency Owner or Admin
Each teammate has a System Role, which decides what they can do, and Client Access, which decides which clients they see.
Bring
Each teammate’s email, the work they do, and the clients they should see.
Leave with
Everyone shows as ACTIVE in Team, with the right role and client access.
Pick their Specialty Role and System Role. Only an Owner can invite another Owner.
Invite a teammateUntil you do, a new teammate sees all clients.
Choose which clients a teammate can seeManagers can send reports and choose what clients see. Specialists build plans and reports but can’t send them.
Change a teammate’s role
Watch out for
- Their invite link has expired.
- They press Send me a new link on that page, or you choose Resend Invite from the menu on their row.
6. Set up your client portal
Branding: Agency Owner or Admin. What clients see: Agency Owner, Admin or Manager.
Your clients sign in to a portal with your logo on it. Choose what each one sees before you invite them.
Bring
Your logo as a PNG, JPG, WebP or SVG, up to 2 MB.
Leave with
Your logo shows, and every client’s portal sections are set in Client Navigation.
Switches save instantly. The client sees a change the next time a page loads in their portal.
Choose what a client sees in their portalThe reporting goal sets the KPIs, chart and table columns on their dashboard.
Choose what a client’s dashboard measuresOrbit’s AI uses it when it builds decks and reports.
Set your brand colours, fonts and conventions
Watch out for
- A switch flips back and says “Forbidden”.
- Only an Agency Owner, Admin or Manager can change what clients see.
7. Invite your client contacts
Agency Owner or Admin
With their portal ready, invite each client’s contacts. They accept, set a password and land on their Performance dashboard.
Bring
Each contact’s name and email.
Leave with
Each contact’s Portal Access shows Active.
Press for someone already listed, or add them with Send Invite Email ticked.
Invite a client contact to their portal
Watch out for
- Their link says it’s been used or has expired.
- They press Send me a new link, or you resend with on their row.
8. Build your first media plan
Anyone at your agency
A media plan holds a campaign’s lines, budgets and flights. Approving one creates its campaign in Command Center.
Bring
The campaign’s client, dates and lines, or a spreadsheet of the plan.
Leave with
Your first plan is saved, and approved once it’s final.
Imports take .xlsx, .xls, .xlsm or .csv files up to 10 MB and arrive as a Draft plan.
Create a media planApproving creates its campaign in Command Center.
Approve a media plan
9. Set up pacing and reports
Anyone at your agency. Custom reports need an Agency Owner or Admin.
Pacing shows spend against each budget, so you catch over- and underspend early. Reports show each client’s performance.
Leave with
Every campaign that’s spending has a budget in Pacing.
Campaigns that spent without one show an empty, highlighted budget box.
Start pacing a campaign that has no budgetEach line shows On track, Ahead, Behind or Not spending.
Check how campaigns are pacing
You’re set up
That’s the core of Orbit in place. For anything else, ask from the search bar at the top of any page.
Only some agencies
Orbit switches these on per agency. If they’re not in your sidebar, your setup ends at “You’re set up” above.
10. Set up Mission Control and Goals
Agency Owner or Admin sets specialties and goals. Everyone with a board connects their own Gmail and Calendar.
Mission Control gives each person a board for their specialty, and Goals sets the targets it measures against.
Leave with
Each person’s board opens on their seat, with a north star target.
Their board then shows threads waiting on a reply and today’s calendar, and a morning brief on weekdays.
Connect Gmail and Google Calendar
11. Set up AI Reports and Marketing Mix Modeling
Agency Owner or Admin sets up templates. Anyone can build reports and models for the clients they can see.
AI Reports builds client reports from their Performance numbers. Marketing Mix Modeling estimates what each channel contributes and plans budgets from it.
Leave with
Your first AI report is ready to review.