Outbrain Add User Access

Add User Access

Use this runbook to add teammates, agencies, or finance partners to Outbrain. Whether you're onboarding an agency partner, internal campaign manager, or client stakeholder, this guide ensures you grant the minimum necessary permissions while maintaining proper access controls.

When to Add Users

Add users to Outbrain when:

• A new campaign manager joins your team and needs to create or optimize content recommendation campaigns.
• An external agency is contracted to manage specific marketers (brands) within your account.
• A client requests read-only access to monitor campaign performance for their brand.
• Finance or billing teams need invoice visibility without media access.
• A data analyst requires reporting access for performance dashboards and exports.
• A temporary contractor needs limited-term access to support a product launch or seasonal campaign.
• A content team member needs to review creative performance without editing campaign settings.

Prerequisites

Before inviting a user, gather the following information:

• Admin rights on the Outbrain account where you're adding the user.
• The user's work email address. Avoid personal emails for audit trail and security purposes.
• The role they need: Admin, Marketer, Read Only, or Billing only.
• Which Marketer(s) (brands) they should access within the account. Have the marketer names ready.
• Confirmation of whether they need billing visibility in addition to their primary role.
• Approval from the account owner or manager, especially for Admin-level access.

Role selection guidance:

• Admin: Only for users who will manage other users, edit conversion pixels, configure billing, or create new marketers. Admins see everything in the account.
• Marketer: For media buyers and campaign managers who create, edit, and optimize campaigns within assigned marketers. This is the most common role.
• Read Only: For analysts, clients, or stakeholders who need visibility to reports and dashboards without editing campaigns.
• Billing: For accounts payable or finance team members who only need to download invoices and review payment history.

Invite Workflow

Follow these steps to invite a new user to your Outbrain account:

Step 1: Access user management

1. Sign in to Outbrain using an account with Admin privileges.
2. From the top navigation, click on your account name or profile icon, then select Account Settings.
3. In the left sidebar, click User Management.
4. You'll see a table listing all current users, their roles, and assigned marketers.

Step 2: Initiate the invitation

1. Click the Invite user button (usually located in the top-right corner of the User Management page).
2. A modal or form will appear asking for user details.

Step 3: Enter user information

1. Email address: Enter the user's work email. Outbrain will send an invitation to this address.
2. Role: Select the appropriate role from the dropdown:
   • Admin if they need full account control, including user management, billing, and conversion pixels.
   • Marketer for campaign management without admin privileges.
   • Read Only for reporting visibility without editing rights.
   • Billing if they only need invoice access.
3. If you're uncertain which role to assign, start with Marketer and adjust later based on their actual needs.

Step 4: Assign marketer scope

1. In the Marketers section, you'll see a list of all marketers (brands) under your account.
2. Select the specific Marketer(s) the user should access. You can select multiple marketers by checking the boxes next to each one.
3. Avoid selecting "All marketers" unless the user genuinely needs account-wide visibility (e.g., account-level admins or agency partners managing your entire Outbrain presence).
4. For agencies, only assign the marketers covered by their contract to prevent scope creep and protect client confidentiality.
5. For internal team members, limit access to the marketers they actively manage or support.

Best practice: Start with the minimum set of marketers and expand later if needed. Over-provisioning access increases the risk of accidental changes or cross-brand data exposure.

Step 5: Configure billing access

1. If the user needs to view invoices, payment history, or billing contacts, enable the Billing option.
2. Billing access is independent of the primary role, so a Marketer can have billing visibility if required (e.g., an agency lead who also handles invoicing).
3. For most campaign managers and analysts, leave billing access disabled to maintain separation of duties.

Step 6: Review and send invitation

1. Double-check the email address, role, marketer assignments, and billing toggle.
2. Click Invite User.
3. Outbrain will send an email invitation to the user with a link to accept and set their password.
4. The user will appear in the User Management table with a status of Pending until they accept the invitation.

Step 7: Verify invitation sent

1. Confirm the user appears in the pending list with the correct role and marketer scope.
2. Note the invitation date in your access log or ticketing system for follow-up tracking.

Post-Invite Follow-Up

After sending the invitation, complete these follow-up tasks to ensure smooth onboarding:

User communication

• Notify the user that an invitation has been sent to their email. Ask them to check spam/junk folders if they don't receive it within 15 minutes.
• Provide a deadline for acceptance. Outbrain invitations typically don't expire quickly, but it's good practice to request acceptance within 72 hours to ensure timely onboarding.
• Share any onboarding materials such as Outbrain training guides, campaign naming conventions, content quality guidelines, or your organization's SOPs for campaign management.
• If the user is new to Outbrain, consider scheduling a brief orientation call to walk through the interface and explain marketer-specific strategies.

Documentation

• Capture the invitation details in your ticketing system or access log:
  • User email
  • Role assigned
  • Marketers granted
  • Billing access (Yes/No)
  • Date invited
  • Approver name
  • Planned review date (for contractors or temporary users)
• Screenshot the pending user from the User Management page for compliance records, especially if your organization requires audit trails for SOC 2, ISO 27001, or other frameworks.

Validation

• Once the user accepts and logs in, ask them to confirm they can see the expected marketers and no others.
• Schedule a check-in after their first campaign launches to ensure they have sufficient access and aren't blocked by permissions.
• If they report access issues (e.g., can't see a specific marketer), revisit the User Management page to verify marketer assignments weren't accidentally omitted.
• Verify they can access the features appropriate for their role (e.g., Marketers should be able to create campaigns, Read Only users should not).

Tracking and review

• Set a calendar reminder for your next quarterly access review to validate this user still needs Outbrain access.
• If the user is a contractor or temporary resource, document their planned removal date in your system and set an alert to offboard them when the project ends.
• Update your internal roster or SSO directory to reflect the new Outbrain user so your identity management stays synchronized.

Troubleshooting

User didn't receive the invitation email:

• Verify the email address was entered correctly without typos.
• Ask the user to check spam, junk, or quarantine folders. Some email filters flag automated invitations.
• If still missing after 30 minutes, check the User Management page to confirm the invite was sent, then try resending.
• Some corporate email filters block Outbrain emails; work with the user's IT team to whitelist Outbrain domains.

User accepted but can't see expected marketers:

• Go back to Account Settings → User Management and edit the user to verify marketer assignments.
• Ensure the user is logging in to the correct Outbrain account. If your organization has multiple accounts, they may be accessing the wrong one.
• Ask the user to log out and back in to refresh their session and permissions.

User needs access to additional marketers after invite:

• Edit the user from User Management and add the new marketers. No need to resend the invitation.
• Notify the user that access has been updated and ask them to refresh their browser to see the new marketers.

Wrong role was assigned:

• Edit the user's role immediately from User Management. Role changes take effect on the next page load.
• If you accidentally granted Admin access, downgrade immediately and review any conversion pixels or account settings they may have changed.

User can see campaigns but can't edit them:

• This likely means they were assigned Read Only instead of Marketer.
• Edit the user and change their role to Marketer, then notify them to refresh.

Common Use Cases

Onboarding an agency partner:

• Role: Marketer
• Marketers: Only those covered by the agency's statement of work or contract
• Billing: Usually disabled unless they handle invoicing for client reconciliation
• Follow-up: Provide agency with campaign naming conventions, content guidelines, and brand safety policies. Share marketer-specific KPIs and reporting requirements.

Adding a client stakeholder:

• Role: Read Only
• Marketers: Only the client's own marketers/brands, never competitors or other clients
• Billing: Disabled
• Follow-up: Show client how to access performance dashboards, export reports, and understand content recommendation metrics. Emphasize read-only limitations and provide a contact for data questions.

Onboarding an internal campaign manager:

• Role: Marketer
• Marketers: Specific to their portfolio, region, or brand assignment
• Billing: Disabled (unless they reconcile invoices)
• Follow-up: Pair with a senior campaign manager for the first week. Review their campaign setups and content selections before launch to ensure quality.

Adding finance team member:

• Role: Billing
• Marketers: All (or specific if your finance team is segmented by business unit or brand)
• Billing: Enabled
• Follow-up: Confirm they can download invoices, view payment history, and access billing contacts without accidentally having campaign editing rights.

Temporary contractor for product launch:

• Role: Marketer
• Marketers: Only the launch-related marketer/brand
• Billing: Disabled
• Follow-up: Document the end date in your ticketing system and set a reminder to remove access when the launch concludes. Provide clear guidelines on campaign budget limits and approval workflows.

Adding a content analyst:

• Role: Read Only
• Marketers: All marketers they need to analyze, or account-wide for comprehensive reporting
• Billing: Disabled
• Follow-up: Share data export procedures, reporting dashboards, and any BI tool integrations. Explain how to interpret content performance metrics.

Best Practices

• Use work emails only for all Outbrain invitations to maintain audit trails and security.
• Start with minimal permissions (fewer marketers, lower role) and expand as needed. It's easier to grant more access than to revoke it.
• Document every invitation with approver, date, and reason in your access log.
• Set review reminders for temporary users to ensure timely offboarding.
• Separate billing from campaign roles when possible to maintain separation of duties.
• Never grant account-wide access unless truly necessary. Limit users to specific marketers to reduce risk.
• Verify acceptance within 72 hours to ensure users can start work on schedule.
• Screenshot pending invitations for compliance and dispute resolution.