Increasing international sales with Shops ads and Checkout-enabled Shops on Facebook and Instagram

The Blue Lagoon brand was created in 1992 as a new space for medical treatment, wellness and skincare based on research into the bioactive effects of Iceland’s lagoon. Blue Lagoon Skincare was launched three years later: a line of skincare products based on the lagoon’s geothermal seawater and bioactive components.

Blue Lagoon Skincare was already using Advantage+ shopping campaigns to reach people who are likely to make a purchase. Advantage+ shopping campaigns work to achieve the best performance from online sales campaigns with minimal effort or management by optimising multiple campaign options – including ad creative, targeting, placements and budget – to find the best opportunities to drive conversions.

Blue Lagoon Skincare wanted to reach international buyers at an earlier stage of the purchase journey, and worked with its agency Alkemy to onboard to Checkout-enabled Shops. Checkout-enabled Shops on Instagram and Facebook, which are available to businesses in the US, enable buyers to make a purchase in the moment of discovery without leaving the app. They also enable businesses to run Shops ads, which send buyers to the destination where they are most likely to convert: the business’ Shop on Facebook and Instagram, or the website.

After setting up Checkout-enabled Shops, Blue Lagoon Skincare ran a Shop ads campaign targeted to people in the US who were likely to be interested in its products, but were not necessarily previous customers. The team measured the results with an A/B test with Advantage+ shopping campaigns in one cell, and Advantage+ shopping campaigns with Shops ads in the other.