11 Aug Reusing Old Posts for Ads (Avoid the iPhone 30% Tax)
Two questions that come up together a lot for anyone just getting started: can I reuse a video I already posted to run ads, and why does boosting from my phone feel like it costs more than it should? The first one has a simple answer. The second one is worth knowing before you spend another dollar.
Reusing an existing post or video is completely fine
If you’ve already published a video or post on your Page and want to run ads with it, there’s nothing wrong with that. At the ad level, choose “Use Existing Post” and select the content you already have. You don’t need to create something new just to have an ad.
One thing worth knowing: the view count doesn’t reset. If that video already had, say, 5,000 views before you started running ads on it, the number keeps climbing from there — 10,000, then 15,000, and so on — as the ad reaches new people. It’s the same post accumulating more reach, not a fresh counter starting from zero.
The mistake that quietly costs you 30%: boosting from an iPhone
Here’s the part that actually costs real money if you don’t know about it. If you tap the simplified “Boost Post” button directly inside the Facebook app on an iPhone, that payment gets processed through Apple’s App Store as an in-app purchase — and Apple takes a 30% cut of it.
Concretely: spend $100 boosting a post from your iPhone, and only $70 of that actually goes toward your ad. The remaining $30 goes to Apple, not to reaching more of your audience, not to Meta, nowhere near your campaign at all.
The fix: use Ads Manager, not the boost button on iOS
Run your ads through Ads Manager on a desktop or laptop browser instead. That routes your payment directly through Meta rather than through Apple’s in-app purchase system, which means 100% of what you spend actually goes into your ad. If you’re on mobile and need to make changes on the go, using a browser rather than the native iOS app avoids the same issue.
This is worth remembering any time you’re tempted to use the quick “Boost” button as a shortcut — it might feel faster, but on an iPhone specifically, it’s a real and completely avoidable loss straight off the top of your budget.
A quick self-check before you boost anything
- Am I about to tap “Boost” inside the Facebook iOS app, or am I using Ads Manager in a browser?
- If I’ve been boosting from my iPhone regularly, how much of my total spend has actually been going to Apple instead of my ads?
- Am I reusing an existing post or video where it makes sense, rather than assuming I need brand-new creative every time?
This breakdown is written by Jason Gan, a Meta Certified Professional and Badged Meta Business Partner who has personally audited over 1,000 advertiser accounts since 2010. You can see real account breakdowns on the Jason Gan YouTube channel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I run ads using a video or post I already published? Yes, completely fine. At the ad level, choose “Use Existing Post” and select the video or post you already published on your Page. There’s no rule against reusing content that way — it’s a common, normal way to run ads.
Does reusing an old video reset its view count? No, it accumulates. If the video already had 5,000 views before you ran ads on it, running ads adds to that same total rather than starting over — so you’d watch it climb to 10,000, 15,000, and beyond as the ad reaches new people.
Why does boosting a post from my iPhone cost more than expected? Boosting directly from the Facebook app on an iPhone routes the payment through Apple’s App Store as an in-app purchase, and Apple takes a 30% cut. Spend $100 boosting from an iPhone, and only $70 actually goes toward your ad — the other $30 goes to Apple, not toward reaching your audience.
How do I avoid losing 30% of my ad budget to Apple? Run your ads through Ads Manager on a desktop or laptop browser instead of tapping “Boost” inside the iPhone app. That routes payment directly through Meta rather than Apple’s in-app purchase system, so 100% of what you spend goes toward the actual ad.
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