There are pros and cons to researching other brands’ Meta ads libraries.
The pros: Meta ads have their own unique conventions and “best practices”, so the best way to get inspiration is to look at what other brands are doing on the platform.
The cons: just because you see it in another brand’s ads library, it doesn’t mean the creative is “working” for the brand. Their financial goals might be vastly different from yours. Meta could be playing a different role in their marketing mix.
Before we get into it, I want to thank this week's sponsor: Goodo Studios. Goodo Studios produces content that helps your brand grab the attention of the right viewers and turn them into customers. If you're looking for killer Meta ads, check them out.
The best-performing Meta ads for fashion brands tend to check all of these boxes:
- Look like content that real users post organically to the platform.
- Feature best sellers or scroll-stopping styles.
- Answer questions about the product–how does it fit, how do you get it on, how does it look from different angles, etc.
To help you kick-start your research, I’m highlighting 5 brands that are doing a really good job with Meta ads right now.
Another caveat before we begin–brands seesaw between leaning into best practices and taking a more branded (and frankly consumer hostile…sorry!) approach. So these brands may be worth examining now, but that could quickly change.
The creative tactics featured here align closely with creative that has worked well for my clients in the past, but I don’t claim to know that these ads are working with 100% certainty.
Brand #1: Dôen
Dôen is an eCom-first brand that–ironically–achieved its first few years of meteoric growth without using Meta ads at all.
Two things I like about their ads library: (1) they promote their hero products from a lot of different angles and (2) they’re not afraid to use copywriting to connect with the audience and highlight different product use cases.
Here are three ads I really like:
I love how they put their own spin on the “meme” template, used photo/video that looked like it was shot by a real customer, and highlighted “back in stock” messaging, which can serve as a form of social proof.
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Brand #2: Jenni Kayne
Jenni Kayne is the rare brand that balances direct response/data-driven marketing practices, smart merchandising and a singular aesthetic perspective. It’s no surprise that they’ve surpassed $100M in annual revenues.
I’ve been returning to their ads library again and again. They’re not afraid to experiment with different creative formats and ideas borrowed from other industry verticals.
Here are three ads I really like:
Jenni Kayne shoots a lot of short videos in-studio and on-model, but shot with an iPhone in a way that looks like it could be shot by a real person. The brand also features a lot of product walkthroughs with the founder (none live atm), stylists, and women who work in the retail stores.
It would be easy for this brand to insist on a really uniform, polished, art directed aesthetic for its ads, but it is not afraid to mix things up in the name of creative diversity.
Brand #3: Labucq
Labucq is an eCom-first footwear company. I discovered the brand through the DTC Twitter (X) community and own three pairs of their shoes.
Although it's hard to discern this as an outsider, brands who are focusing on eCom as their major growth channel usually have much better ads libraries because they have to perform.
Labucq is another brand that showcases best-selling styles from a number of creative angles, many of which feel platform-native.
Here are three ads I really like:
If you’re selling shoes, bags or jewelry, you can literally pick up your best seller, showcase it from different angles as you shoot with your phone, and produce a winning ad.
Brand #4: Still Here
This brand got on my radar because they have a product that’s literally named “the cool jean” that was featured in a few shopping newsletters. I visited the site, and then started to get targeted by their ads.
I know I sound like a broken record at this point, but they shoot their best selling product in a variety of ways and try to make the shots feel platform native.
Here are three of my favorites:
Selfies and POV walking in the product videos (even if staged) can work really well.
I would deduct some points because Still Here features their logo in almost every ad. But I think it makes sense within the context of the brand’s success in promoting the Cool Jean outside of Meta.
You probably know that The Cool Jean is a Still Here product, so the text overlay on all the ads lets you know that you’re in the right place.
Brand #5: Deiji Studios
I’d never heard of this brand until they started showing up in my IG ads rotation. Their ads library isn’t the strongest in terms of creative diversity, but they feature a ton of ads that look like they were shot by real people.
Hint: when you shoot selfie-style ads, keep the phone in the photo.
I think this ad account is a great example of how you can do “raw”/platform-native ad content in an aesthetically cohesive way. Here are three of my favorite ads:
That’s it for now. The best part of this? As you visit these brands’ websites and navigate around, you’ll start to get served ads from their competitors. Acting like you’re shopping for a product in your category is a great way to unearth new ad inspo.
In a future issue I’ll break down a number of specific winning Meta ads formats in detail.