Meta & Google ads for a Gulf footwear brand: 10.2x on Meta, 9.6x on Google
LUMINA runs the performance marketing for a footwear brand that sells online across the Gulf, on Meta, Google and Snapchat.
From January to September 2026, every $1 spent on Meta ads brought back $10.20 in sales, a 10.2x return. A year earlier it was 5.5x. Each purchase cost 48% less, and the brand sold more on a budget 40% smaller. Google Ads went from 7.5x to 9.6x between February and September. We keep the client's name private. Every figure comes straight from the ad accounts we manage.
- Client
- A footwear brand. We keep the name private.
- Sells
- Shoes and bags, online
- Markets
- The Gulf
- Channels
- Meta ads on Instagram and Facebook, Google Performance Max, Snapchat ads
- LUMINA's role
- Performance marketing: strategy, campaign build and day-to-day management
- Source of figures
- Meta Ads Manager and Google Ads, as each platform reports them
Where did the account stand in 2025?
In 2025 the Meta budget was split across three Gulf markets and several campaign types. At home, the brand got back 6.3x what it spent. The other two markets took about 15% of the budget and returned about 1.3x. The account was selling. But every month, part of the budget went where nobody was buying.
Performance marketing, from strategy to daily management
LUMINA plans, builds and manages the brand's Meta, Google and Snapchat ads, and tells the client which creatives are working.
What did LUMINA change?
We changed six things between 2025 and 2026.
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Budget moved to the market that buys
About 15% of the 2025 Meta budget went to two other Gulf markets and came back at about 1.3x. We stopped those campaigns and kept the money in the brand's home market, where the same spend was returning more than 6x.
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A three-stage campaign structure
We split the campaigns by how well people know the brand. New audiences come first, then people who have engaged or visited, then people close to buying. Each stage gets its own budget and its own ads, so money meant for new customers never ends up in retargeting.
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Catalogue ads for people who already looked
A shopper looks at a product and leaves. Later they see that same product again, pulled automatically from the store's catalogue. In 2026 this campaign for returning visitors returned 14.1x, the highest of the main always-on campaigns.
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Broad targeting for new customers
To reach new customers we use Meta's Advantage+ campaigns with broad targeting and let Meta's system find the buyers, instead of narrow interest lists. It is the largest campaign in the account, about a quarter of 2026 spend, and it returned 8.2x.
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Audiences built from real buyers
Our customer lists and lookalike audiences start from people who have already bought. In a newer market, a lookalike of home-market customers returned 6.2x. Broad prospecting in that same market had returned 2.2x.
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Sale campaigns counted separately
Flash sales run as their own short campaigns, which keeps them out of the always-on numbers. Take the sale campaigns out of both years and return on ad spend still rose from 5.1x to 8.6x.
What were the results on Meta?
| Measure | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on ad spend, all Meta campaigns | 5.5x | 10.2x | +84% |
| Return on ad spend, home market only | 6.3x | 10.2x | +63% |
| Return on ad spend, without sale campaigns | 5.1x | 8.6x | +69% |
| Cost per purchase | 100 | 52 | −48% |
| Purchases from ads | 100 | 116 | +16% |
| Ad spend | 100 | 60 | −40% |
Source: Meta Ads Manager, January to September of each year, as the platform reports it. The Meta ad account is in US dollars. Cost, purchases and spend are shown as an index, with 2025 set to 100. Sales reported by the platform are not the store's total sales.
What did Google Ads return?
Google Ads (PPC) runs next to Meta for the same brand. Most of it is Performance Max, which shows the store's products across Google Search, Shopping and YouTube. From February to September 2026, Google campaigns returned 9.6x, up from 7.5x in the same months of 2025, and each purchase cost 31% less. The largest campaign takes about two thirds of 2026 Google spend. It brought in 34% more purchases on 40% less spend.
| Measure | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on ad spend, all Google campaigns | 7.5x | 9.6x | +28% |
| Return on ad spend, Performance Max campaigns | 6.5x | 10.7x | +65% |
| Return on ad spend, largest campaign | 6.7x | 13.1x | +95% |
| Cost per purchase, all Google campaigns (index) | 100 | 69 | −31% |
| Cost per purchase, largest campaign (index) | 100 | 45 | −55% |
| Purchases, largest campaign (index) | 100 | 134 | +34% |
Source: Google Ads, February to September of each year, as the platform reports it. The 2025 data starts in February. The Google Ads account is in US dollars. Cost and purchases are shown as an index, with 2025 set to 100.
The same brand also runs Snapchat ads. Their figures are not on this page.
Running ads for a fashion brand in the Gulf?
Tell us your markets and what a sale is worth to you.
What shaped the strategy?
Two findings. First, focus pays: in 2025 the two other Gulf markets returned about 1.3x, so we moved that budget to the home market, where it returned more than 6x. Second, sale months lift the year: in 2026 the monthly return reached 22.3x in a sale month, and the account held 10.2x across January to September.
Questions brands ask before they start
It depends on your margins, so one number will not fit every brand. In this account the always-on Meta campaigns returned between 5x and 9x, and the sale campaigns between 15x and 25x. A newer market started lower, at about 2x.
Not always. Here, 15% of the budget went to two extra markets and returned about 1.3x, against more than 6x at home. Moving that money back lifted the return of the whole account. A new market needs its own test budget and its own audiences.
They did here. The broad Advantage+ campaign was the largest in the account in 2026 and returned 8.2x. It runs next to the catalogue ads for returning visitors, which returned 14.1x.
It did here. Performance Max returned 10.7x from February to September 2026, up from 6.5x in the same months of 2025. The brand runs it at the same time as its Meta ads.
Yes. We are based in Dubai and work with brands across the Gulf, in English, Arabic and French.
Everything from strategy to campaign management and optimization. We also tell you which creatives are working and what we need from you next. Every client gets an account manager and a digital marketing specialist. Marketing work starts from $900.
The performance figures belong to the client, so we keep the name private. The numbers come straight from Meta Ads Manager and Google Ads for the periods shown.
Running ads for a fashion brand in the Gulf?
Tell us your markets and what a sale is worth to you.