FM SHOES

When FM Shoes ran a split test to see how much better ads designed specifically for Instagram Stories would perform, it found that they resulted in an 11% higher return on ad spend than ads adapted to fit this format.

THE STORY
Helping women walk with style

FM Shoes is an online footwear retailer in Taiwan that carries a wide range of shoes catering to women from all walks of life. Since its establishment in 2006, FM Shoes has launched several of its own footwear collections, as well as a brick-and-mortar store.

11%

higher return on ad spend from ads designed for Stories than from adapted ads

16%

higher return on ad spend from ads with polling stickers than from adapted ads

4X

higher click-through rate from ads with polling stickers than from adapted ads

Thanks to Facebook’s two-day sprint workshop, we learned valuable strategies for creating engaging ads in Instagram Stories. The outcome of the workshop were four ads that differed from our usual approach, but the split test makes it clear: Creative native to Instagram Stories, enhanced by interactive features, is the winning approach for driving strong results.
JAMES HONG, FOUNDER AND CEO, FM SHOES
THE GOAL
Trying ad formats and features

To boost website traffic and return on ad spend, the women’s shoe retailer wanted to compare the effectiveness of ads designed for Stories with ads repurposed to fit the format. The brand also wanted to test various Stories features to understand the impact it could have on its ad campaign.

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THE SOLUTION
Experimentation afoot

FM Shoes had consistent results by running its ads via automatic placement in Instagram Stories. To further improve website traffic and conversion rates for its ecommerce website, the brand participated in a workshop organized by Facebook Creative Shop. There, it created two sets of ads on Instagram Stories: those designed specifically for the format (“native”), and those retrofitted from existing ads.

With retrofitted ads, brands specially make creative in the 9:16 vertical format ratio, allowing them to use attractive full-screen, eye-catching visuals. Ads for Instagram Stories include features such as polls, stickers and ratings that are unique to Stories, and which encourage people to interact with the brand in a fun way. Having not worked with ads in Instagram Stories before the workshop, FM Shoes chose to experiment with the carousel, slider and polling formats.

Next, the brand set up a split test to find out whether ads in Instagram Stories would perform better than ads repurposed to fit the format. The brand targeted the ads to women in Taiwan aged 18–50, including those with an interest in shoes. After analyzing the campaign results, FM Shoes found that ads specifically designed for Stories engaged more customers and drove better business results.

Running from July 14-21, 2020, the campaign achieved:

  • 11% higher return on ad spend from ads designed for Stories than from adapted ads

  • 16% higher return on ad spend from ads with polling stickers than from adapted ads

  • 4X higher click-through rate from ads with polling stickers than from adapted ads