Case Study: How Social Media Became a New Revenue Stream

When Luxembourg-based high-end optical store Opti-Vue first reached out to me, they were curious but a little skeptical.

We’ve never used social media to sell. Could it actually work for us?

It’s something I hear a lot, and honestly, it makes sense. If you’ve been relying on foot traffic, word of mouth, or haven’t had proper tracking set up, it’s hard to know if social media is actually working.

So we decided to run a 2-month experiment. No long-term commitment. Simply focused effort to see what social media could really do for their business.

For this short experiment, we focused on something quite new to their customers: selling contact lenses online.

Why is that a big deal? Because buying lenses has traditionally meant an in-person visit, whether for prescriptions, fittings, or expert advice. Moving that process online required a shift in mindset. To make it work, we needed to build trust, provide clarity, and simplify the experience from browsing to checkout.

It wasn’t just about selling a product line, it was about introducing a new habit.

I love running experiments like this because they turn “maybe” into “let’s do this”

Here’s what happened and what we learned along the way.

A Bit of Context

Opti-vue is a well-established, luxurious optical retailer in Luxembourg. Think stunning high-end eyewear, contact lenses, and a highly knowledgeable in-store team. They’d never sold much online and had never used Meta ads for driving sales.

Key Challenges

Together, we identified a few common digital roadblocks:

1) Tracking & Transparency
Before launching any campaigns, we set up proper conversion tracking, something that hadn’t been in place before. This gave the  team full visibility into where their online sales were coming from and how their campaigns were performing, often for the first time.

2) Streamlining the Online Store
The website already had strong foundations, but there were a few friction points in the navigation and checkout experience. Together, we made small but meaningful improvements to simplify the purchase journey and reduce drop-offs.

3) A New Buying Behavior
Contact lenses aren’t something people typically think to buy online so part of the campaign’s job was educational. We needed to show that ordering lenses digitally was not only possible but convenient, safe, and straightforward.

The Approach

We kept things lean and focused:

- Set up the Meta Pixel and full ecommerce tracking to finally gain visibility into what was driving results and what wasn’t.
- Audited the online store experience and recommended small but impactful changes to reduce friction, recover abandoned carts, and improve the overall customer journey.
- Launched Meta campaigns using a mix of ad creatives, messaging, and audience segments to uncover what resonated best.
- Closely monitored and optimised everything every step of the way, from targeting and creative formats to copy variations and campaign structure.

And then... we watched the results roll in. Across two months, social campaigns achieved an average return on ad spend (ROAS) of 2.65.

For confidentiality reasons, I can’t share all the data, but I was genuinely excited by the results. Not just because the numbers were promising, but because they proved what’s possible when the right pieces come together.

In just a short period of time, we unlocked a new revenue stream and revealed real online potential. It’s a great example of how, with consistent optimisation, conversions can grow month after month.

And for this client, it’s only the beginning, a glimpse of what’s ahead. With social campaigns working alongside Google Search and Shopping, there’s still incredible untapped potential to drive consistent, sustainable growth.

Learnings

This little experiment showed a few big truths:

1) If you don’t have tracking, you’re flying blind.
2) People do buy on social—if you reach the right audiences.
3) You don’t need a massive budget to start seeing results.

But you do need the right strategy, creative, and structure.
And just because your product isn’t typically sold online? Doesn’t mean it can’t be.

Final Thoughts

This wasn’t about spending a fortune or going all out there. It was about getting smart, fast learnings, making data-backed decisions, and building confidence for the client and their future marketing efforts.

My client now has a solid foundation:

- Tracking is in place.
- The store experience is smoother.
- And they’ve proven to themselves that social media can drive real revenue and sustainable purchases.

Every online platform has its own strengths, and with the right strategy, you can make a real impact.

If you're thinking about testing social media for your own business or you're wondering why your current efforts on Google, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok, or even X aren’t delivering, feel free to reach out. I’ll help you move forward with clarity, confidence, and results.