Ads Connector: Testing & Troubleshooting

The Ads Connector has two jobs: pull leads in from Google and Meta, and push conversions back out. Before you rely on it, it's worth proving both directions with your own eyes — a test lead that actually lands in REDA, and a test conversion that actually reports. This article walks through both tests, then hands you a diagnosis-and-fix matrix for the things that go wrong most often: leads that never appear, conversions that never fire, the master switch that's quietly off, a disconnect that won't complete, and access that's missing. Each problem is paired with its usual cause and the fix, so you can move from "it's not working" to "here's why" quickly. It assumes only that your ad account has been set up and connected — if it hasn't, start with the setup guide linked at the end.

Before you test

A meaningful test needs the setup already in place. Confirm these first, so a failed test points at a real fault rather than an unfinished step:

• The ad account exists on the Ad Account tab, shows Active, and has a Connected Date.
• Lead capture is switched on for your platform (the master Meta / Google setting — see the troubleshooting matrix if unsure).
• For conversions, the ad account has a Conversion Target set (and, for Meta, a Conversion Token). See Closed-loop Conversions & Conversion Target.

Test 1: prove a lead flows in

The cleanest inbound test is to submit your own lead through the real form and watch it arrive in REDA. Both Google and Meta provide a way to send a test submission from their form tools, which avoids spending ad budget.

Test 2: prove a conversion fires

The outbound test is to take a captured lead all the way to converted and confirm REDA stamps it as sent. You don't send anything by hand — converting the lead is the trigger.

In Salesforce, a converted lead/deal showing Conversion Sent checked and Conversion Sent Datetime stamped — the proof a conversion was reported. (Inquiry on OEM; Opportunity on ISV.)

Troubleshooting matrix

Work top to bottom — the earlier rows are both the most common and the cheapest to check.

The lead-capture switch

One setting sits above everything else in this connector: a master on/off for lead capture, held separately for each platform — one for Meta lead ads, one for Google lead forms. When a platform's switch is off, no leads from that platform are ingested, regardless of how correctly the ad account, form and webhook are configured. It's the fastest thing to rule out and the easiest to overlook, which is why it heads the matrix.

Because it's a global switch, it's managed by your Salesforce administrator, not from the ad account record. If an entire platform has gone silent — every lead, not just one — this is the first place to look. Turning the right switch back on restores capture immediately; no reconnection is needed.

When disconnect won't complete

Disconnecting an ad account isn't just a local flag — for Meta it also releases the page's connection at REDA's routing service so the page can move to another org. That release is what makes disconnect occasionally fail: it depends on a remote site setting named REDA_Router, which grants REDA permission to reach its own service. Without it, the release call can't go out.

The important part is that disconnect fails safe. If the release doesn't succeed, the ad account stays fully connected rather than ending up half-disconnected — no leads are silently lost. You'll see a short LOG reference you can quote to support. Once the REDA_Router remote site setting is confirmed present, retrying disconnect is completely safe; it simply picks up where it left off.

When access is the problem

If someone can't see the Ad Account tab, the connect/disconnect buttons, or the ad fields on a lead, the cause is almost always access rather than a broken connection. Managing ad accounts requires the connector's permission set, which grants the tab, the buttons, and read access to the ad fields.

Two nuances are worth knowing. First, the ad fields are granted read-only by that permission set — the connector writes them itself, in the background — so an administrator who needs to edit an ad account (for instance to set a Meta Conversion Target) needs that edit access through their profile, not only the permission set. Second, only REDA One (OEM) ships a dedicated Ads permission set, REDA - Ads Integration. On REDA on Sales Cloud (ISV) the same access to the tab, the record and the buttons is part of REDA - Master Data - Admin, so assign that set instead — there is nothing to configure by hand. Either way, if access is missing, it's your Salesforce administrator who grants it.

Worked example: Meridian Court's silent Meta forms

Meridian Court reports that its Facebook and Instagram lead forms suddenly stopped producing leads, while its Google forms keep working. Following the matrix top-down, the administrator starts with the master switch — and finds the Meta lead ads capture switch had been turned off during an unrelated change. Google's switch was untouched, which is exactly why Google kept flowing.

They turn the Meta switch back on and re-run Test 1: a test submission from Meta's form tool lands as an Inquiry within moments, correctly stamped with its ad account, campaign, form and Web fbclid. With capture restored, they move to Test 2 — convert the test lead and confirm Conversion Sent stamps with its date and time. Both directions proven, Meridian is back in business without a single reconnection.

Where to go next

1. Ads Connector Setup — the one-time admin setup, access model and layout fields these checks assume.
2. Closed-loop Conversions & Conversion Target — set a Conversion Target and understand how a conversion fires.
3. Google Lead Connector — the inbound setup for Google forms.
4. Meta Lead Connector — the inbound setup for Facebook and Instagram, including moving a page.
5. Ads Connector Overview — how the pieces fit together.

Frequently asked questions