Meta Ads agency: Facebook and Instagram ads for Shopify stores

A Meta Ads agency for Shopify stores plans, builds and manages Facebook and Instagram ads so that revenue grows in Shopify, not just the numbers in Ads Manager. This text shows you how to recognise a good Facebook Ads agency.

What a Meta Ads agency does for your store: creating demand instead of capturing it

Google Search captures demand that already exists. Facebook and Instagram work differently: nobody there is searching for your product. Meta Ads show your product to people who do not know it yet and create new demand that way. This is why brands with a new product, or one that needs explaining, often start with social media ads for their online store and only scale through Google Ads later.

The downside: created demand is more expensive and harder to measure than captured demand. Anyone who judges Meta Ads by the logic of a search campaign usually stops them too early. A Meta Ads agency therefore has to do two things at once: build campaigns and explain to the store owner which numbers matter.

Setup by the Meta Ads agency: pixel, Conversions API and catalogue via Shopify

Every campaign stands on its tracking. In Shopify, the connection runs through Meta's Facebook and Instagram app, which sets up the pixel and the Conversions API together. The pixel measures in the browser, the Conversions API reports purchases server-side from Shopify. Together they catch purchases the browser alone loses to ad blockers or tracking protection. We check deduplication so that no purchase counts twice, and we test the events ViewContent, AddToCart, InitiateCheckout and Purchase.

The product catalogue is passed from Shopify to Meta. For catalogue sales to work, variants, prices in CHF, stock levels and images have to come through cleanly. On consent, the rule is simple: the pixel may only fire after the visitor has agreed, and the Conversions API has to respect that consent as well. The revised Swiss Data Protection Act and the GDPR for customers in Germany and Austria require it.

Campaign logic of the Meta Ads agency: Advantage+ Shopping, prospecting and retargeting

Advantage+ Shopping campaigns leave the audience largely to Meta. The algorithm decides who sees the ad and combines new and existing customers in one campaign. We define how large the share of existing customers may be, so that the campaign really brings in new customers.

Alongside this, the classic structure still makes sense. Prospecting reaches people who do not know your brand. Retargeting on Facebook and Instagram addresses visitors who left the store without buying. Lookalike audiences built from buyer lists or Klaviyo segments deliver new prospects who resemble your existing customers. Catalogue sales show visitors the product they looked at. Which mix fits depends on your range, average order value and budget.

Creatives: the most important lever for any Meta Ads agency

Since Meta has been automating targeting more and more, the creative decides between success and failure. The creative is the targeting: whoever feels addressed by the video clicks, and Meta learns from that whom to show the ad to. That is why we test in a fixed rhythm: new variants every week, evaluation after two weeks, stop the losers, scale the winners.

Formats that work for stores:

• Short videos of 15 to 30 seconds with the product in the first three seconds
• UGC, meaning videos from users or creators who show and explain the product
• Static images with one clear message, often stronger than elaborate productions
• Carousels and catalogue ads for broad product ranges

What we need from you for this: product photos, raw footage, customer reviews and an honest answer to the question of why customers buy from you. Creatives for Meta Ads are made from this material.

How a Meta Ads agency measures success: beyond Ads Manager

Since iOS 14, Meta can no longer attribute part of the purchases to individual ads. Ads Manager therefore shows less revenue than the campaigns actually trigger, and models part of it. At the same time, it credits itself with purchases that would have happened without the ad.

That is why we work on three levels. First, Ads Manager for comparisons between campaigns and creatives. Second, blended ROAS: total revenue from Shopify divided by all ad spend across Meta and Google. Third, simple incrementality tests: pause the budget in one region or for two weeks and watch what happens to Shopify revenue. The truth is in Shopify Analytics, not in Ads Manager.

There is no flat figure for Meta Ads costs. They depend on your average order value, the competition in your niche, the quality of your creatives and whether your store converts. In the first conversation we estimate which budget is needed for a meaningful test.

Meta Ads agency working together with Google Ads, SEO and Klaviyo

Meta Ads rarely work alone. Someone who sees a product on Instagram googles the brand later or comes back through the newsletter. Split the channels across three providers and three reports fight over the same purchase. At Rankist, one team looks after Google Ads, Meta Ads, Shopify SEO and Klaviyo with one shared report. In practice this means: Meta creates the demand, Google Search and searches for your brand capture it, and Klaviyo turns first-time buyers into regulars. How this connects to the store itself is explained on our page about the Shopify agency.

When a Meta Ads agency has to advise against ads: advertising restrictions on CBD, nicotine and finance

Meta rejects or heavily restricts ads for CBD, nicotine, many financial products and, depending on the country, alcohol. We look after several CBD brands such as Heimat, Green Passion and Canapuff and know these limits from practice. Our answer is not to get around the policies. In these industries, SEO and email marketing lead to revenue, and Meta Ads at most for brand content without reference to products. A serious Facebook agency in Switzerland tells you this in the first conversation, not after three suspended ad accounts.

Meta Ads agency for Switzerland: CHF, languages and DACH targeting

A few particularities apply to Swiss stores. Prices in ads and in the catalogue have to be in CHF and match the store, otherwise conversion drops. The language regions need their own ad sets with their own creatives for German, French and Italian. If you also sell to Germany and Austria, you separate the countries into their own campaigns, because price levels, shipping costs and competition differ and Meta would otherwise push the budget into the cheapest market. You will find more practical examples in the guides on our social media blog.

Services of the Meta Ads agency at a glance

As a Meta Ads agency, we take care of the following for your Shopify store:

• Audit of existing accounts: tracking, structure, creatives, distribution of spend
• Setup of pixel, Conversions API, catalogue and consent via Shopify
• Campaign build with Advantage+ Shopping, prospecting, retargeting and catalogue sales
• Creative strategy, briefings for UGC and video, production of static ads
• Weekly testing and budget management
• Reporting based on Shopify revenue and blended ROAS, together with Google Ads and Klaviyo
• Coordination with SEO and email when advertising policies restrict ads

The effort depends on the number of markets, languages and products, and on how many creatives you need. In a free first conversation we look at your account and tell you what we recommend and what we do not.