ROAS optimization
ROAS optimization for paid media
Extract high return from active spends.
Pruning unprofitable campaigns and reinforcing underfunded scale.
ROAS is the most quoted metric in paid media and one of the most misleading. A high ROAS can come from retargeting people who would have bought anyway, from brand searches, or from low-margin products that lose money after fulfilment. Optimising ROAS without checking those things often makes the business worse.
We start by testing whether reported ROAS is real — reconciled against revenue, adjusted for margin and checked for incrementality — then cut what is not incremental and scale what earns margin.
The problem
Portfolios are bogged down by underperforming campaigns that bleed cash, while high-ROI ad sets remain underfunded.
What we do
- Run campaign contribution audits
- Prune low-yield ad variations
- Reallocate budget to profitable audiences
- Calibrate bidding caps
What you get
- Campaign contribution audits
- Spend reallocation playbooks
- Bid ceiling models
- Creative test logs
Optimized ad portfolios that generate higher contribution returns on active spends.
How it runs
- Audit Spends. We list all running ad groups and calculate their contribution profit.
- Cut Waste. We pause ad sets and creative variants that operate below marginal targets.
- Shift Budgets. We reallocate ad spends to channels and audiences with headroom.
- Deploy Caps. We implement bid caps and rules to protect performance from sudden shocks.
Who this is for
- E-commerce brands judged on ROAS targets that do not match profit
- Accounts where retargeting and brand campaigns report the best ROAS
- Teams setting ROAS targets for Smart Bidding or Advantage+
What's included
- Reconciliation of platform ROAS with store and finance revenue
- Margin-adjusted ROAS targets by product group
- Incrementality review of retargeting and brand spend
- Bidding and budget changes toward profitable, incremental revenue
Separating incremental revenue from credited revenue
The biggest ROAS gains usually come from cutting spend that is credited with sales it did not cause. Retargeting audiences full of people about to buy, brand search campaigns capturing people who were looking for you anyway, and Advantage+ or Performance Max budgets spent mostly on returning customers all report excellent ROAS. We test them with holdouts — pausing or reducing spend for a matched group or region — and compare sales against a control.
Where the incremental effect is small, budget moves to prospecting that brings new customers, even if its reported ROAS is lower. That can make the dashboard look worse while the business improves, so we report both: platform ROAS for the record, and new-customer revenue and contribution margin for decisions.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good ROAS?
It depends on your margins. The break-even ROAS is roughly one divided by your contribution margin percentage; a good ROAS is one that leaves profit after all variable costs.
Why is our ROAS high but profit low?
Common reasons are low-margin products, returns, double-counted conversions and spend on customers who would have bought anyway.
Should we use target ROAS bidding?
It can work well with enough conversion volume and accurate values. Targets should be set from margins, not habit.
Does ROAS optimisation apply to lead generation?
The same logic applies with lead values: assign values to leads based on their likely revenue, optimise toward value, and judge results on revenue per unit of spend from the CRM rather than raw lead counts.
How is your ROAS optimization different?
We optimize for blended contribution profit rather than ad network dashboard metrics.
Do you write new ad creative?
We analyze performance to identify hook and copy winners, providing briefs for new creative tests.
What are bidding caps?
They are automated rules that prevent ad systems from buying clicks that exceed target acquisition costs.
Pricing: monthly retainers by region
Every engagement is a monthly retainer priced on scope — never a percentage of ad spend. The range depends on the number of channels, markets and the depth of tracking and CRM work involved.
| Region | Monthly retainer |
|---|---|
| United States | $2,500–$6,000 per month |
| India | ₹1,00,000–₹5,00,000 per month |
| United Kingdom | £2,200–£5,000 per month |
| United Arab Emirates | AED 4,000–AED 10,000 per month |
| Australia | A$3,000–A$7,000 per month |
| Canada | C$3,000–C$7,000 per month |
| Singapore | S$3,000–S$7,000 per month |
| Europe | €2,500–€5,000 per month |