Meta enforces strict policies on advertising military-related products. There are clear restrictions on promoting firearms, firearm modifications, explosives, and other dangerous goods, following Meta’s policy on Dangerous Goods and Services.
In ads targeted at individuals aged 18 and older, it is permitted to promote the following types of content:
- Items that are not directly sold as part of a physical weapon, including, but not limited to, the following examples below.
- Equipment related to hunting, self-defense, or sport shooting, such as clay throwers, shooting targets, belts, protective vests, holsters, cartridge bags, or magazine holders.
- Military clothing.
- Items used to carry, pack, or support weapons for easier transport or positioning.
- Items that cover or wrap weapons, such as gun cases, safes, locking devices, paint coatings, weapon slings, or tripod mounts.
In addition, restrictions also apply to dual-use products, those that can be used for both military and civilian purposes (e.g., optics, communication devices, etc.). Certain medical products may also require certification and compliance with local laws.
Meta’s policies are subject to change, so it’s important to always consult the official website for the most up-to-date information. With prior experience in targeted promotion of military and tactical gear, we took on another project in this niche.
About the Client
Our client is a specialized online store offering a wide range of products for military personnel and outdoor enthusiasts. The assortment includes original goods from the U.S. and Europe, including clothing, gear from well-known brands, and authentic U.S. Army surplus items.
The assortment includes:
- Original products from the U.S. and Europe
- Branded clothing and gear
- U.S. Army surplus items
- Camping and bivouac equipment
Store advantages:
- Exclusivity - certain items are available only through the client’s store
- Expertise - professional assistance with product selection
- Savings - discounts available on bulk orders
- Speed - daily order dispatch
- Convenience - delivery via Nova Poshta and in-store pickup in central Kyiv
Our primary objective when launching targeted advertising was to promote products in order to increase sales volume.
Workflow
At the initial stage of the collaboration, we conducted a comprehensive audit of the client’s existing advertising campaigns. This included analyzing the niche and competitors, particularly their presence on social media and advertising strategies.
The competitive analysis revealed that effective promotion in this niche requires the use of diverse ad formats. Specifically, combining catalog-based advertising with custom banners for individual products proved to be the most effective approach. Drawing on successful competitor examples, we developed our banner style tailored to the needs and expectations of the target audience. The client regularly provides us with products for which we create copy and banners to be published on their profile.
Niche
The military gear niche is currently well-developed. Several well-known stores are represented in Ukraine, and they actively use social media for promotion, including targeted ads and influencer collaborations, which gives them a strong media presence.
To promote effectively, it’s essential to create visually appealing banners that showcase the benefits and features of the products. This allows potential customers to quickly recognize the value they’re getting. The customer must see what they will receive. In addition, both the product assortment and advertising materials should be adapted to seasonal trends and current demand, which can vary throughout the year.
Target audience
The primary target audience in this niche consists of military personnel who require specialized gear, clothing, and other essential items. In addition, a significant portion of the audience includes the families of service members, particularly spouses and other relatives.
Example of gender breakdown:
Overall CPM (impressions per reach): approximately 10.62 (5,374,492 / 506,029), indicating a high frequency of exposure (~10.6 times per person).
The majority of purchases were made by men (93% of all purchases according to the screenshot), although the cost per purchase for this group is slightly higher than for women. The lowest cost per result was recorded in the female segment ($4.58). While women represent a smaller portion of the overall audience, their average purchase cost is also lower, which makes this segment worth targeting further. Additionally, the audience of users who have already visited the website, as well as lookalike audiences, performed quite well in this project.
Based on the gathered data, we developed a detailed action plan and an overall strategy for the targeted promotion of the project.
Advertising strategy:
- Campaign objective: increase website sales through Facebook and Instagram advertising.
- Additionally: social media account management.
- Geography: the entire territory of Ukraine, excluding occupied areas.
- Ad schedule: 24/7.
- Priority product categories selected for targeting: clothing, bivouac and camping gear, tactical equipment, and tactical medical supplies.
To ensure proper conversion tracking and enable further campaign optimization, we immediately installed the Meta Pixel on the client’s website, as this is a necessary prerequisite. The product feed was provided by the client.
In this project, we applied a combined approach to targeted promotion: driving traffic to the website to build a “warm” audience and running conversion-focused campaigns to boost sales over time. We launched campaigns with objectives such as Website Traffic and Add to Cart, and worked with various audience types, including interest-based and lookalike audiences. Later, we launched retargeting campaigns with a Purchase objective.
Below is a list of tasks completed during the first month.
Technical setup:
- Facebook Pixel is configured to track user actions on the website
- Product feed uploaded for dynamic ads.
Audiences:
- Relevant targeting audiences were collected and structured (interests, behavior, retargeting).
Content:
- Developed a visual style for Instagram posts
- Wrote post copy aligned with the brand’s tone of voice
- Published approved posts according to the content plan.
Advertising:
- Created banners for ad campaigns
- Launched and analyzed initial ad campaigns based on defined goals and budget.
Results from the first month of advertising:
Overall results:
- 98,819 total reach
- 812 add-to-cart events
- 230 purchases
- $4.50 average cost per purchase across all campaigns.
The purchase rate based on reach was 0.23%, meaning that approximately every 435th user who saw the ad made a purchase. The conversion rate to purchase was 28.3%, indicating strong user motivation to complete a purchase after interacting with the ad. This result reflects high-quality traffic and a well-structured purchase process. In other words, we had a solid starting point for campaign optimization, the ads were already generating purchases, and there was clear potential for scaling.
Below is a summary of all setup and optimization efforts carried out throughout the entire collaboration with the client.
- Strategic planning and preparation:
- Development of a visual style for Instagram posts
- Analysis of the target audience and formation of user groups for targeting
Preparation and publishing of content on the Instagram profile
Creation of eye-catching ad banners designed to drive action.
- Campaign setup and launch:
- Configuring advertising campaigns based on goals and budget
Monitoring and analyzing campaign performance - Disabling ineffective ad banners that do not generate conversions
Optimizing the budget by reallocating funds to the most effective campaigns - Working to stabilize the cost per purchase
- Checking and ensuring the proper functioning of the product catalog.
- Configuring advertising campaigns based on goals and budget
- Analytics and Optimization:
- Regular analysis of key performance indicators (KPIs) and implementation of measures to improve them
- Analysis of advertising campaigns and competitor activity on social media to identify trends and popular products
- Formation of relevant product offers based on demand analysis.
Let’s move on to analyzing the effectiveness of advertising campaigns that demonstrate the implementation of the approved promotion strategy.
Targeted advertising results for the military and tactical gear store
As of February 2025, the client’s advertising account actively runs 20 campaigns. For performance analysis, we will consider the last six months (August 2024 – February 2025).
- 1,325,886 total reach
- 9,671 add-to-cart events
- 2,999 purchases
- 1,428% ROAS on purchases
- 486 conversations started in Direct
The configured campaigns reached a significant portion of the audience. 31% of add-to-cart events resulted in a purchase, a very strong outcome. Targeted advertising on Facebook and Instagram has proven effective, as evidenced by a high ROAS: every 1 UAH spent on advertising generated 627.4 UAH in revenue for the client. At the same time, there is room to improve the conversion rate from add-to-cart to purchase.
Since October and November 2024 do not include major holidays, analyzing campaigns during these months will provide the most relevant data.
We have achieved a 9% decrease in cost per purchase. Since the client’s product is unrelated to holidays and no discounts were offered, this cost per purchase reflects the standard demand level in the niche.
The average cost per purchase during this period is $6.67. Some campaigns performed even better; notably, the catalog campaign showed the best results, with an average cost per purchase of only $5.24.
We continue to optimize advertising campaigns to maximize efficiency, focusing on increasing sales volume and reducing the cost per purchase. Currently, our priority is raising ROAS, which we are actively working on.
