Insights·November 12, 2026

6 Instagram Stories Ad Examples That Worked

Six Instagram Stories ad examples from 2025 and 2026 with measured results, plus the 9:16 specs and safe zones that decide whether your ad gets seen.

Noah Klapper

The Instagram Stories ad examples that worked in 2025 and 2026 share a pattern: five of the six campaigns below used creators rather than brand-made spots, all ran in Stories alongside Feed and Reels, and all were measured with lift or A/B tests. Results range from a 28-point ad recall lift for LANEIGE to 20.9% more sales for the Turkish retailer A101.

Key takeaways

• Meta's Ads Guide asks for 9:16 video, ideally 1440 x 2560 pixels, with the top 14%, the bottom 35% and 6% on each side kept free of text and logos.
• Five of the six campaigns ran creator-led partnership ads; bonprix cut its cost per purchase by 13% by moving 30% of its budget from catalog ads to 22 creator videos.
• Stories video ads under 16 seconds play in full, while longer ones may be split into up to three cards, so the brand and the message belong at the start.
• In Meta's meta-analysis of 15 split tests on Reels, which share the Stories safe zone, 9:16 video with sound and key messages inside the safe zone cost 34.5% less per result than image ads.

6 Instagram Stories ad examples with measured results

Stories are worth the effort: about half of US adults use Instagram, and 79% of those aged 18 to 29, according to Pew Research Center's social media fact sheet, based on surveys through 2026. All six examples come from Meta's own case studies, published with the brands' approval. Two caveats before you copy anything: each campaign ran in Stories alongside Feed and Reels, so the results describe the whole ad campaign rather than the Stories placement alone, and success stories are not a random sample. What they do show is which creative choices held up in a controlled test. Each example ends with the part worth copying; check your own frames against the margins with our Instagram Stories safe zone tool.

1. LANEIGE: a creator-led product launch

To launch its JuicePop Box Lip Tint in the US, the Korean skincare brand ran photo, video and partnership ads with well-known creators and celebrities in Feed, Reels and Stories, with a Shop now button that led to Sephora's website. A Meta brand lift test from January 27 to March 31, 2026 measured a 28-point lift in ad recall, 22 points in brand awareness and 7 points in consideration, according to Meta's LANEIGE case study.

Copy this: for a launch, let creators carry the opening, and keep the bottom of the frame free for the Shop now sticker.

2. Orange France: point-of-view footage from everyday life

Orange France wanted people to know they could buy Ray-Ban Meta glasses from the telco. Its brief to the creative agency was to "make the extraordinary ordinary", so creators filmed point-of-view footage with the glasses on a camping trip, a walk in the city or a picnic, which ran as partnership ads across Feed, Stories and Reels. In Meta's Orange France case study, the July 8 to 31, 2026 campaign delivered an 11.7-point ad recall lift, 7% more add-to-cart actions on Orange.fr and 88% incremental add-to-cart actions for the glasses.

Ray-Ban Meta glasses didn't need to prove their technological potential. Our challenge was to show how they fit naturally into our customers' everyday lives.

Copy this: shoot vertical and handheld, with the product in action in an ordinary moment. Meta's Stories guidance notes that mobile shots tend to outperform studio shots for ad recall and intent.

3. BMW UK: creator photography and cinematic video

For the launch of the G70 LCI, BMW UK and the agency LIGANOVA MaSH! worked with creators, some of them photographers, on carousel ads with their photos and cinematic video ads about the car's features and design details. Partnership ads also run from the creators' own handles, which reaches potential customers who do not follow the brand. A multi-cell conversion lift test from May 29 to June 10, 2026 compared the usual campaign with the same campaign plus these partnership ads, in Feed, Reels, Stories and on Threads. Adding the creator ads brought 2.1 times the incremental content views, 67% more incremental website visits and a 40% lower cost per incremental visit, as Meta's BMW UK case study reports.

Copy this: mix photo and video in one campaign. Meta's Stories guidance says mixed media tends to perform better.

4. bonprix: 22 creator videos for one denim collection

The German fashion retailer wanted to win back women aged 40 and over for its denim range. Its agency VX Media produced 22 creator-led videos that paired diverse fashion creators with a craft creator to show the range across body types and fits, each with a Shop now button. A conversion lift test from October 23 to November 6, 2025 compared 100% of budget on the usual catalog ads with a 70/30 split between catalog ads and creator partnership ads, in Feed, Stories and Reels. The split lowered the cost per purchase by 13% and delivered 1.4 times the incremental return on ad spend, according to Meta's bonprix case study.

Copy this: you do not have to replace what works. A 30% share for creator videos was enough to move the result.

5. Dove Australia: creators explaining why they use it

Dove promoted its Whole Body Deodorant with partnership ads in which creators explained in their own words why they love it, from the scent to a self-care moment for a mother of four toddlers. With its media agency Mindshare, Dove tested dynamic identity, which lets Meta's AI choose whether the brand's or the creator's handle fronts each ad. Against the usual partnership campaign, in Feed, Stories and Reels from July 14 to September 7, 2025, dynamic identity lifted brand awareness by 7.7 points, ad recall by 4.6 points and intent to shop for a Dove deodorant by 3.4 points, per Meta's Dove Australia case study.

Copy this: give each creator one reason to buy. Meta advises keeping text overlays focused on a single point.

6. A101: product videos straight from the catalog

The Turkish retailer used to advertise its weekly deals for its A101 Ekstra online store with still product images. It built custom product video templates and added product-level videos to its catalog, so Meta could show video for each product without new shoots. An A/B test in Meta Ads Manager from August 12 to September 1, 2026, across Reels, Feed and Stories, found 20.9% more sales and a 17% lower cost per purchase with product video, according to Meta's A101 case study.

Copy this: a template turns a catalog into Stories videos at scale; just keep the price and the offer out of the bottom 35%.

What do these Stories ad examples have in common?

Three patterns stand out in these best Instagram ads examples. First, people beat polish: five of six put creators in front of the camera, in formats our UGC ads guide breaks down. Meta's own testing points the same way. On its Reels ads page, which uses the same 9:16 safe zone, Meta reports that adding partner-made native video to a usual campaign lowered the cost per result by 5% and raised the conversion rate by 11% across 15 A/B tests from May 2022 to April 2023, and that in a meta-analysis of 15 split tests, 9:16 video with sound and key messages in the safe zone cost 34.5% less per result than image ads.

Second, variety beats a single hero ad. bonprix shot 22 videos for one collection, BMW mixed photos with video, and A101 made video for every product. Even better, fresh versions keep ad fatigue away when the same people see your Stories every day.

Third, every result comes from a lift or A/B test, not from platform-attributed return on ad spend. If you want Stories ads that convert, test them against what you already run.

We see the production side in onboarding calls. Teams often ask for one project exported as 9:16 for Stories and Reels and 4:5 for Feed, with text already inside the safe zone, so the files can go straight into Ads Manager.

What size and safe zone does an Instagram Stories ad need?

Meta's Ads Guide for Instagram Stories video asks for MP4 or MOV in a 9:16 ratio, recommends 1440 x 2560 pixels, allows 1 second to 60 minutes and 4 GB per file, and limits the primary text to 125 characters. It also asks you to leave roughly the top 14%, the bottom 35% and 6% on each side free of text, logos and other key elements, so the profile icon and the call to action do not cover them.

Meta's own pages do not fully agree on the bottom. Its creative best practices for Stories ask for 14% at the top and 20% at the bottom to keep the default call-to-action sticker clear. Design for 35% and you are safe under both, and in Reels as well.

Taller phones are the second trap. Meta's safe zone help page says that on screens taller than 9:16, it either zooms the creative, which can crop anything outside the safe zone, or shows it at 9:16 with black bars. An iPhone 17 has a 2622 by 1206 pixel display, so a 9:16 frame fills only about 82% of its height. Keep critical text comfortably inside the safe zone, not on its edge.

Text has to be readable in the second it is on screen, and bright colors alone do not make it so. The W3C's contrast guideline sets a minimum ratio of 4.5:1 between text and background, or 3:1 for large text, a good test for any overlay on moving video. Sound helps too: Meta notes that most Stories ads with voice-over or music drive better results than silent ones. Burn in captions anyway. Meta recommends them, and according to the World Health Organization, more than 430 million people around the world, over 5% of the world's population, live with disabling hearing loss.

How long should an Instagram Stories ad be?

Under 16 seconds, if you want control. The Ads Guide says Stories play video ads shorter than 16 seconds in full. Videos of 16 seconds or longer may be split into separate Stories cards, one, two or three, chosen automatically for each viewer, and with ThruPlay, two-second view or reach goals, viewers may get a Keep Watching option for the rest.

That makes the first few seconds the whole ad for many viewers, so keep the message clear and concise. Meta's Stories guidance says the best-performing ads put their key message at the beginning, use short scenes rather than long slow ones, and match the creative to the objective: people for awareness, products for sales. In practice, plan a 6 to 15 second cut for every concept. Story ads that run longer need a first card that works as a complete ad, brand and offer included.

How to make Stories versions with Solid

Stories ads need the same idea in many cuts: 9:16 for Stories and Reels, 4:5 for Feed, short and long, one per audience. Solid, the AI creative engine for brands and their agencies, builds them from the footage you already own. The Solid Agent takes a brief such as "a 12-second Stories cut of our creator review, product in the first two seconds" and assembles it from your Smart Library, with captions in your brand's fonts and colors. Platform safe-zone overlays sit in the Video Editor, so text stays out of the top 14% and bottom 35%, and Review and Export ships approved ads in 9:16 and 4:5 together. Check any frame first with our Instagram Stories safe zone tool.

FAQ

Can an Instagram Stories ad be a photo instead of a video?

Yes. Meta's design requirements for Stories ads accept every feed photo and video ratio from 1.91:1 to 4:5, and images show for five seconds by default. Meta still recommends 9:16 to fill the screen, at 1080 x 1920 pixels or at least 600 x 1067.

How many stickers can an Instagram Stories ad use?

Up to five interactive elements, such as location, hashtag, tappable text and mention stickers, or a single countdown sticker. Stickers can draw attention to the product, but Meta advises against emojis, GIFs, music and link stickers in ads. The default call-to-action sticker only works on Stories ads without other interactive elements such as a poll, and you can move it in Ads Manager for 9:16 creative.

What is the difference between Stories ads and Reels ads?

Both are full-screen 9:16 placements with the same safe zone guidance. Stories ads appear between people's Stories as they tap through Instagram, and Meta says Stories are consumed faster than other formats; Reels ads appear in the Reels viewer, which defaults to sound on. Meta notes that 9:16 video ads in Instagram Feed use the same safe zone too, so one well-built 9:16 cut can serve all three.

How do you check the safe zone before publishing?

In Meta Ads Manager, switch on the safe zone guardrail: a yellow overlay marks where text and logos are safe. Check the preview for every placement, since Stories, Reels and Feed crop differently, and view the ad on a tall phone before you spend on it.

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About the author

Noah Klapper works with Solid's brand and agency customers, from the first demo through onboarding to their weekly video ad production. Solid is the AI creative engine for brands and their agencies.

Sources

• Meta Ads Guide: Awareness video ad specs on Instagram Stories, checked November 12, 2026
• Meta Business Help Center: Creative best practices for Stories; About text overlays and the safe zone; Design requirements for Instagram Stories ads, checked November 12, 2026
• Meta for Business: Reels ads, meta-analysis of 15 split tests and 15 A/B tests from May 2022 to April 2023
• Meta for Business case studies: LANEIGE (2026), Orange France (2026), BMW UK (2026), bonprix (2025), Dove Australia (2025), A101 (2026)
• Apple: iPhone 17 technical specifications
• World Health Organization: Deafness and hearing loss fact sheet, March 3, 2026
• W3C: Understanding WCAG 2.2, Contrast (Minimum)
• Solid onboarding calls, 2026 (customers not named)