How to correctly use Post IDs in Facebook Ads (works with different placements too)

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How you can double your engagement with Post IDs

Let’s say you duplicate an ad, and choose “Show existing reactions, comments and shares on new ads”.

What actually happens is that a completely different post, another entity is created.

The duplicated ad will have the same engagement the previous ad has, but it won’t be able to gain any engagement the original ad will gain from that point on. This doesn’t matter if you’re pausing the original ad, but if you’re trying to use the same ad in another ad set, you want to use post IDs.

That way, all new engagement will accumulate on one post.

Why does engagement on an ad even matter?

Enagement on an ad are likes, comments, and shares.

Having high engagement is important since it’s a great form of social proof.

Picture this:

There are two ads, both are the same ad.

One has 5000 likes and hundreds of comments, while the other has a couple dozen likes and a few comments.

Which one seems more trustworthy?

Don’t mind the bananas.

How to find the post ID

First method

Step 1. Select an ad

Step 2. Click Preview

Step 3. Click Share

Step 5. Click Facebook post with comments

Step 6. Copy the Post ID, which is the last number in the URL of the tab that was just opened

Second method

Step 1. In the business manager or your ad account, click settings (three lines).

Step 2. Click on Page posts

Step 3. Click Ad posts

Step 4. Copy the post ID of the post you want. Be careful, as Facebook creates different post IDs for different aspect ratios (1:1, 9:16, etc.)

How to create an ad using the post ID

Step 1. Duplicate an ad or create a new ad.

Step 2. Choose Use existing post

Step 3. Enter post ID (or select a post by clicking on Change post). Be careful here, since Facebook creates different posts based on the aspect ratio of an ad.

That’s it! Publish the ad, and you’ll have published an ad that uses a different post.

But, what if you want a different image or video to be used for a certain placement? For example, you want a 9:16 aspect ratio image for stories and reels, instead of an awkward and unproffesional 1:1 image/video.

How to change images for every placement and still keep the engagement

Step 1. Click on Select a placement to edit

Step 2. Select a placement

Step 3. Change the image or video with the one you’d like to use for that placement

Congratulations! Now you know how to maximize your ad engagement by using post IDs.