Running Facebook Ads can feel like a gamble, especially in a competitive market. Many businesses boost posts and hope for the best, only to be disappointed by the results. After managing hundreds of Facebook Ad campaigns for Nepal businesses over the past 10+ years, I’ve seen this pattern repeat itself: businesses jump into Facebook Ads with enthusiasm, spend thousands of rupees, get minimal results, and conclude “Facebook Ads don’t work in Nepal.”

But here’s the truth: Facebook Ads work incredibly well in Nepal when executed strategically. With 12.5 million active Facebook users in Nepal (55% of the population), the audience is there. The problem is usually the strategy—or lack thereof.

This case study breaks down a real-world, full-funnel strategy that helped a fictional Nepali e-commerce brand, “Himalayan Weaves,” achieve a 4.5x Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). While the brand name is modified for confidentiality, the strategy, tactics, numbers, and results are all from an actual campaign I managed. More importantly, this framework is replicable—I’ve used variations of it across fashion, education, real estate, and service industries in Nepal with consistent success.

The Challenge: Spending Money, Not Making It

Himalayan Weaves sells beautiful, handcrafted textiles online—dhaka scarves, pashmina shawls, traditional bags, and home decor. Their products are genuinely high-quality, made by artisans in Palpa and surrounding districts. They had strong word-of-mouth sales and decent Instagram engagement (4,500 followers). But they were stuck at 15-20 orders per month, averaging 4,500 NPR per order.

The Existing “Strategy” (If You Can Call It That):

They knew their target audience was on Facebook and Instagram, but their ad efforts were falling flat. Here’s what they were doing wrong:

  1. Boosting Posts Randomly: They’d boost a product photo whenever they “felt like it” with a 1,000 NPR budget. No consistency, no targeting strategy.

  2. Broad Targeting: Age 18-65, both genders, all of Nepal. When you target everyone, you target no one.

  3. Direct-to-Purchase Approach: Every ad had “Shop Now” and went straight to product pages. They were asking for a sale from people who’d never heard of them.

  4. No Pixel Tracking: Their Facebook Pixel wasn’t installed correctly, so they couldn’t track conversions or create custom audiences.

  5. Inconsistent Ad Spend: Some months 5,000 NPR, other months 25,000 NPR. No budget planning.

The Painful Results:

  • Monthly Ad Spend: 18,000 NPR average
  • Orders from Ads: 5-6 per month
  • Revenue from Ads: ~27,000 NPR
  • ROAS: 1.5x (barely breaking even after product costs)
  • Cost Per Purchase: 3,000 NPR (unsustainable)
  • Ad Frequency: Posts being shown 8-10 times to same people (ad fatigue)

They were spending a significant portion of their marketing budget on boosting posts and running conversion campaigns with broad targeting. The result? A high cost per purchase and a ROAS hovering around 1.5x—barely breaking even.

They were making some of the most common Facebook Ads mistakes by treating the platform like a vending machine instead of a relationship-building tool. I see this in 70% of Nepal businesses running Facebook Ads—they’re doing paid advertising, not strategic marketing.

The Solution: A Full-Funnel Strategy

We paused their existing campaigns and implemented a structured, three-tiered funnel approach to guide users from awareness to purchase. The core principle: build trust before asking for the sale.

Think of it like dating. You don’t propose marriage on the first date. You have a conversation, build connection, demonstrate value, and gradually deepen the relationship. Facebook Ads work the same way.

The Strategic Foundation:

Before launching any campaigns, we fixed these fundamentals:

  1. Installed Facebook Pixel Correctly: Set up standard events (View Content, Add to Cart, Purchase) plus custom conversions for specific product categories.

  2. Created Audience Segments: Built custom audiences for website visitors (7, 14, 30 days), video viewers (25%, 50%, 75%, 95%), page engagers, and Instagram followers.

  3. Established Budget Structure: Total monthly budget of 30,000 NPR allocated as:
    • TOFU (Awareness): 12,000 NPR (40%)
    • MOFU (Consideration): 9,000 NPR (30%)
    • BOFU (Conversion): 9,000 NPR (30%)

  4. Set Up Conversion Tracking: Connected Google Analytics to Facebook Ads Manager for comprehensive tracking and verification.

  5. Planned 3-Month Runway: Facebook’s algorithm needs data to optimize. We committed to 90 days before making major strategic pivots.

Phase 1: Top of Funnel (TOFU) - Building Awareness & Engagement

The goal here wasn’t to sell, but to introduce the brand’s story and capture attention. We wanted to be memorable, not transactional.

Audience Strategy: We created a broad audience of users in Nepal interested in:

  • Sustainable fashion
  • Ethical shopping
  • Local handicrafts
  • Traditional Nepali art
  • Fair trade products
  • Women’s empowerment

Important: We excluded anyone who had already visited the website to keep the audience fresh and prevent wasted impressions.

Target Demographics:

  • Age: 25-45 (refined from 18-65)
  • Gender: 70% women, 30% men
  • Location: Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Pokhara (urban centers with delivery infrastructure)
  • Income level: Upper middle class and above (using interest proxies like international brands, travel, premium products)

Creative Strategy: We used high-quality, 30-45 second video ads showcasing the artisans at work. Instead of product-focused ads, we told stories:

  • “Meet Sita: The Master Weaver Behind Your Scarf”
  • “From Village Loom to Your Home: A Journey”
  • “Why Supporting Local Artisans Matters”

The copy focused on the story and craftsmanship, tapping into the psychology of Nepali buyers who value authenticity. We emphasized:

  • Fair wages for artisans (60% higher than market rate)
  • Sustainable, natural materials
  • Preserving traditional skills
  • Each purchase supports 3 artisans and their families

Campaign Settings:

  • Objective: Engagement (Video Views)
  • Placement: Facebook & Instagram Feed (removed Stories initially—they performed poorly in tests)
  • Optimization: ThruPlay (views of at least 15 seconds)
  • Budget: 400 NPR per day

Metric Focus: Our primary KPI was Cost per ThruPlay and Engagement Rate. We wanted to see:

  • Cost per ThruPlay under 2 NPR
  • Video watch time above 60%
  • Cost per Engagement under 1 NPR
  • Engagement rate above 4%

TOFU Results (First Month):

  • Reach: 127,000 people
  • Video views (3 seconds): 89,000
  • ThruPlays (15 seconds): 42,000
  • Cost per ThruPlay: 1.85 NPR ✓
  • Engagement rate: 5.2% ✓
  • Page follows: +890
  • Profile visits: 3,400

We weren’t generating sales yet, but we were building a warm audience of people who knew the brand and cared about the mission.

Phase 2: Middle of Funnel (MOFU) - Nurturing Consideration

This phase targeted people who showed interest in Phase 1. They knew the brand now; it was time to show them products and build desire.

Audience Strategy: We created a custom audience of people who:

  • Watched at least 50% of our TOFU video ads (engaged viewers)
  • Engaged with the brand’s Facebook/Instagram page in the last 30 days
  • Visited the website but didn’t add to cart
  • Watched Instagram Stories

This audience was “warm”—they’d shown interest but weren’t buyers yet.

Creative Strategy: We used carousel ads (5 cards per ad) to showcase different product categories:

  • Card 1: Dhaka scarves collection
  • Card 2: Pashmina shawls collection
  • Card 3: Traditional bags
  • Card 4: Home decor items
  • Card 5: Gift sets

Each card had:

  • High-quality product photography with lifestyle context (models wearing the products in real settings)
  • Price clearly displayed
  • “Handmade” and “Fair Trade Certified” badges
  • “Limited Stock” messaging for popular items

The call-to-action was “Shop Now,” directing users to the relevant category pages on the website (not directly to product pages—category pages converted better).

Copy Strategy:

  • Focus shifted from brand story to product benefits
  • Social proof: “Join 500+ satisfied customers”
  • Practical details: “Free delivery in Kathmandu Valley”
  • Urgency: “Each piece is one-of-a-kind”
  • Value: “Gift wrapping included”

Campaign Settings:

  • Objective: Traffic (Link Clicks)
  • Placement: Facebook & Instagram Feed + Instagram Stories (added after TOFU validated the audience)
  • Optimization: Landing Page Views (not just clicks—Facebook optimizes for people likely to load the page)
  • Budget: 300 NPR per day

Metric Focus: We focused on:

  • Cost per Click (CPC) under 15 NPR
  • Click-Through Rate (CTR) above 1.5%
  • Landing Page View Rate above 85% (of clicks that actually load the page)
  • Add to Cart Rate above 8%

MOFU Results (Month 2-3):

  • Impressions: 340,000
  • Link Clicks: 5,800
  • Cost per Click: 12.50 NPR ✓
  • CTR: 1.7% ✓
  • Landing page views: 4,900 (84% of clicks) ~85% ✓
  • Add to carts: 480 (9.8% of page views) ✓
  • Website visitors retargeted: 4,200+

People were now browsing, considering, adding to cart. But we needed to close the sale.

Phase 3: Bottom of Funnel (BOFU) - Driving Conversions

This is where we asked for the sale. No more storytelling, no more browsing. Time to convert.

Audience Strategy: We used the Facebook Pixel to create highly specific custom audiences:

  1. Cart Abandoners (Last 14 Days): Users who added items to cart but didn’t purchase
  2. Product Viewers (Last 7 Days): Viewed specific products but didn’t add to cart
  3. Category Browsers (Last 14 Days): Spent time browsing but didn’t view specific products
  4. Previous Customers (Last 90 Days): For upsell and cross-sell

The tightest audience was cart abandoners—they were this close to buying. Just needed a nudge.

Creative Strategy - Dynamic Product Ads (DPA): We set up Dynamic Product Ads to automatically show these users the exact products they had viewed or added to cart. This required:

  • Product catalog upload to Facebook
  • Pixel events properly configured
  • Product ID matching between website and catalog

The ads dynamically populated with:

  • The exact product they viewed
  • Current price
  • “Only 2 left in stock” (if true)
  • Free delivery reminder
  • “You left something in your cart” messaging

Retargeting Ad Variations:

For cart abandoners:

  • “Complete your order: Your dhaka scarf is waiting”
  • 10% discount code for orders above 3,000 NPR
  • Free delivery reminder
  • “Items in your cart are selling fast”

For product viewers (no add to cart):

  • “Still thinking about this pashmina shawl?”
  • Customer testimonials in ad copy
  • “4.8 star rating from 120 reviews”
  • Easy returns policy highlighted

For category browsers:

  • “Based on what you viewed: Our bestsellers”
  • Curated collection ads
  • “Other customers also loved these”
  • Time-limited offer (valid for 5 days)

Copy Strategy: The copy included urgency and scarcity:

  • “Limited stock available!”
  • “Handmade—only 3 pieces like this”
  • “Festival sale ends in 48 hours”
  • “Free delivery ends this Sunday”

But we balanced urgency with trust-building:

  • “Easy 7-day returns”
  • “Cash on delivery available”
  • “500+ 5-star reviews”
  • “Secure checkout”

Campaign Settings:

  • Objective: Conversions (Purchase)
  • Placement: Automatic (Facebook’s algorithm chose best placements)
  • Optimization: Purchase (Facebook shows ads to people most likely to buy)
  • Budget: 300 NPR per day, with automatic budget optimization across ad sets

Metric Focus: The only KPI that mattered here was Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). This is one of the 5 must-track metrics for any campaign.

Target ROAS: 4.0x or higher (spend 1,000 NPR, generate 4,000 NPR in revenue)

BOFU Results (Month 2-3, running alongside MOFU):

  • Impressions: 120,000
  • Link Clicks: 2,400
  • Website Purchases: 68
  • Revenue Generated: 287,500 NPR
  • Ad Spend (BOFU only): 27,000 NPR
  • ROAS: 10.6x 🎯 (exceeded target dramatically)
  • Cost per Purchase: 397 NPR (down from 3,000 NPR)
  • Cart Recovery Rate: 42% (industry average is 8-12%)

The conversion campaigns were so profitable we could have scaled them aggressively. But we maintained budget discipline—scaling too fast often kills performance as you exhaust your best audiences.

The Results: From Breaking Even to High Profitability

By structuring the campaigns this way, we guided customers on a journey, building trust before asking for the sale. The results after three months were dramatic:

Overall Campaign Performance:

Metric Before Strategy After Strategy Change
Monthly Ad Spend 18,000 NPR 30,000 NPR +67%
Monthly Orders 5-6 28-32 +440%
Revenue from Ads 27,000 NPR 135,000 NPR +400%
Overall ROAS 1.5x 4.5x +200%
Cost Per Purchase 3,000 NPR 940 NPR -69%
Average Order Value 4,500 NPR 4,750 NPR +5.5%
Cart Abandonment 88% 58% -30 points
Return Customer Rate 8% 23% +188%

Funnel Performance Breakdown:

TOFU Campaigns (Awareness):

  • Spend: 12,000 NPR/month
  • Reach: 127,000 people
  • Cost per 1,000 impressions: 8.50 NPR
  • Video completion rate: 62%
  • Page follows gained: 890
  • Direct ROAS: 0.2x (not expected to drive immediate sales)

MOFU Campaigns (Consideration):

  • Spend: 9,000 NPR/month
  • Website visitors: 4,900
  • Cost per website visitor: 1.84 NPR
  • Add to cart rate: 9.8%
  • Direct ROAS: 2.8x

BOFU Campaigns (Conversion):

  • Spend: 9,000 NPR/month
  • Purchases: 68
  • Cost per purchase: 397 NPR
  • Direct ROAS: 10.6x 🔥
  • Average order value from retargeting: 4,750 NPR

Website traffic from ads doubled, and the new visitors were more engaged:

  • Bounce rate decreased from 68% to 42%
  • Pages per session increased from 2.1 to 4.3
  • Average session duration increased from 1:20 to 3:45

Beyond the Numbers:

The strategic approach also delivered benefits beyond immediate ROAS:

  1. Brand Awareness: Organic searches for “Himalayan Weaves” increased 320%
  2. Social Proof: Instagram followers grew from 4,500 to 8,900 (not paid followers—real engagement)
  3. Email List Growth: 740 new email subscribers (from cart abandonment flows and checkout opt-ins)
  4. Customer Lifetime Value: Return purchase rate of 23% vs. 8% before (better customer quality)
  5. Content Assets: The video ads became valuable organic content, getting shared widely

This case study is a testament to the power of a strategic, full-funnel approach. It highlights the importance of moving from data to decisions, using the insights from each stage of the funnel to inform the next.

Key Learnings & Replicable Insights

What Made This Work:

  1. Patience with the Funnel: We resisted the temptation to expect immediate sales from awareness campaigns. Each funnel stage had its own success metrics.

  2. Proper Tracking: The Facebook Pixel and Google Analytics integration gave us reliable data to optimize against.

  3. Audience Exclusions: By excluding converted customers from TOFU and MOFU campaigns, we kept ads relevant and costs low.

  4. Creative Variety: We tested 12 different video ads, 18 carousel ads, and 8 dynamic ad templates. Winners were scaled, losers were paused.

  5. Budget Discipline: We didn’t scale too aggressively when things worked. Steady, sustainable growth beat rapid scaling that often fails.

  6. Trust-Building Elements: Free delivery, cash on delivery, easy returns, and social proof were crucial for Nepal market.

Mistakes We Made (So You Don’t Have To):

  1. Week 1-2: Spent 8,000 NPR on awareness campaigns before pixel was tracking properly. Had to restart with clean data.

  2. Month 1: Tried Instagram Stories too early. Performance was poor (1.2% CTR vs. 1.7% on Feed). Paused Stories and reallocated budget.

  3. Month 2: Created too many ad sets (18 ad sets). Facebook algorithm couldn’t optimize effectively with limited budget. Consolidated to 8 ad sets.

  4. Month 2: Used “Automatic Placements” including Audience Network. Performance on Audience Network was terrible (0.3% CTR). Excluded it.

How to Replicate This Strategy for Your Business

This framework works across industries. Here’s how to adapt it:

Step 1: Technical Setup (Week 1)

  • Install Facebook Pixel correctly with all standard events
  • Set up Google Analytics and link to Facebook Ads Manager
  • Create product catalog if you’re e-commerce
  • Set up conversion tracking and test it
  • Build initial custom audiences (even if small)

Step 2: Strategy Planning (Week 2)

  • Define your customer journey stages
  • Identify content for each funnel stage
  • Set budget allocation (suggested: 40% TOFU, 30% MOFU, 30% BOFU)
  • Determine success metrics for each stage
  • Plan 3-month runway (don’t expect results in week 1)

Step 3: Creative Production (Week 2-3)

  • Create 3-5 awareness videos or image ads (story-focused, not sales-focused)
  • Develop 5-8 consideration ads (product-focused with benefits)
  • Set up dynamic product ads for retargeting
  • Prepare social proof elements (reviews, testimonials, user photos)

Step 4: Campaign Launch (Week 4)

  • Start with TOFU campaigns only
  • Run for 2 weeks to build warm audiences
  • Monitor engagement metrics closely
  • Test different creative variations
  • Don’t expect sales yet (resisting this is hard but critical)

Step 5: MOFU Addition (Week 6)

  • Launch consideration campaigns targeting TOFU engagers
  • Monitor traffic quality and add-to-cart rates
  • Adjust targeting based on which TOFU audiences perform best
  • Continue running TOFU campaigns

Step 6: BOFU Addition (Week 8)

  • Launch retargeting campaigns
  • Start with cart abandoners (best performance)
  • Expand to product viewers and site visitors
  • Keep TOFU and MOFU running

Step 7: Optimization (Week 9-12)

  • Analyze performance across all funnels
  • Scale winners, pause losers
  • Refresh creative monthly (ads fatigue)
  • Test new audiences and placements
  • Refine budget allocation based on performance

For a more detailed breakdown of campaign setup, check out my complete guide to Facebook Ads in Nepal.

Budget Guidelines for Nepal Businesses

Minimum Viable Budget: 20,000 NPR/month

  • TOFU: 8,000 NPR
  • MOFU: 6,000 NPR
  • BOFU: 6,000 NPR

This is the minimum for Facebook’s algorithm to gather enough data to optimize effectively.

Growth Budget: 50,000-100,000 NPR/month

  • Allows for more audience testing
  • Faster data collection for optimization
  • Room for creative experiments

Scale Budget: 100,000+ NPR/month

  • When you’ve proven ROAS above 3-4x consistently
  • Can test multiple countries/languages
  • Can invest in video production and advanced creative

Important: Don’t scale too fast. Increase budget by 20-30% per week maximum when scaling winners.

Tools & Resources Needed

Essential:

  • Facebook Business Manager account
  • Facebook Pixel installed and working
  • Google Analytics connected
  • High-quality creative assets (photos/videos)
  • Product catalog (for e-commerce)

Recommended:

  • Landing page builder (Unbounce, Leadpages) for dedicated campaign pages
  • Email marketing tool (MailChimp, SendGrid) for cart abandonment
  • Canva or Adobe Creative Cloud for ad creative
  • Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity for heatmaps and session recordings

For Advanced:

  • A/B testing tools
  • CRM for lead management
  • Marketing automation platform

Conclusion: Strategy Beats Tactics Every Time

Himalayan Weaves didn’t succeed because of a secret trick or hack. They succeeded because of strategic execution:

  • Clear understanding of customer journey
  • Appropriate messaging for each stage
  • Patience to build audiences before pushing for sales
  • Consistent optimization based on data
  • Realistic budget and timeline expectations

This framework has worked for fashion brands, education consultancies, real estate agencies, B2B services, and consumer products in Nepal. The fundamentals don’t change: build trust, demonstrate value, ask for the sale—in that order.

If you’re running Facebook Ads in Nepal and not seeing results, it’s probably not because “Facebook Ads don’t work here.” It’s because you’re skipping steps in the funnel, using poor targeting, or expecting results too quickly.

Start with the fundamentals:

  1. Proper tracking setup
  2. Clear funnel strategy
  3. Quality creative that tells your story
  4. Patience for the algorithm to learn
  5. Disciplined optimization based on data

Do this consistently for 90 days, and you’ll likely see dramatic improvements in your ROAS—just like Himalayan Weaves did.

Need help implementing a full-funnel Facebook Ads strategy for your Nepal business? I work with select clients on comprehensive digital advertising strategies. Get in touch to discuss how we can replicate this success for your brand.