Why scaling brands should stop chasing ROAS (and what to focus on instead)

If you’re a purpose-driven eCommerce brand in growth mode, chances are you’ve been told to live and die by one number: ROAS – Return on Ad Spend.

It is the golden ratio of digital marketing. The metric everyone screenshots. The number investors love to see climbing.

But focusing too heavily on ROAS can quietly stall your growth, especially when you’re scaling.

At One Voice Marketing, we work with values-led brands who aren’t trying to win an algorithm; they’re building something that matters. When you take that bigger-picture view, ROAS stops being the hero metric. It becomes one piece of a much wider puzzle.

The Problem with Chasing ROAS

ROAS rewards short-term wins. It pushes brands to optimise for the cheapest possible sale today, often at the expense of tomorrow’s growth. That can mean cutting upper-funnel activity, underinvesting in brand storytelling, or focusing too narrowly on existing customers.

High ROAS numbers usually come from easy wins: retargeting loyal customers, running discounts, or pausing spend when results dip. They look good in a spreadsheet but do not build reach, awareness, or long-term demand.

And they ignore context.

A 4x ROAS on £500 per day is not the same as a 2x ROAS on £10,000 per day. The first looks efficient, but the second brings far more revenue and new customers into your ecosystem. As spend scales, efficiency often drops, but total impact increases. Smart scaling means understanding that trade-off.

What to Optimise for Instead

If your goal is sustainable growth, ROAS alone will not get you there. You need metrics that reflect the whole picture, not just what Ads Manager shows you.

Here’s where to focus:

1. Optimise for CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)

Know what you can afford to pay to acquire a customer, not just for their first purchase but across their lifetime. A healthy CAC should balance with your LTV (Lifetime Value), the total revenue that customer generates over time.

If you are breaking even (or slightly in the red) on acquisition but your repeat purchase rate is strong, you are in a good position to scale. The key is knowing your customer LTV and being confident in your retention.

2. Track MER (Media Efficiency Ratio)

If you are already generating around £1 million or more in annual revenue, it is likely Meta is not your only growth channel.

That is where MER = Total Revenue ÷ Total Ad Spend comes in. It gives you a clear view of how efficiently your marketing performs across all channels – Meta, Google, email, and beyond.

It is especially useful as attribution becomes less reliable due to privacy changes from Apple (iOS 14.5), Meta’s data restrictions, and the increase in cross-device browsing, which make it harder to track exactly where a sale came from.

By tracking your overall MER, you can see how your full marketing ecosystem is performing without getting lost in attribution models.

3. Segment Performance by New vs Returning Customers

If most of your sales come from returning buyers, your ads are not expanding your audience. Growth depends on net-new acquisition, people discovering your brand for the first time.

Keep an eye on that split. A healthy ratio means your marketing is working to both nurture loyalty and drive discovery.

4. Think Like a CFO, Not a Media Buyer

Ask yourself: Can we afford to take a lower ROAS now to gain more high-value customers later? A CFO would decide by looking at margins, cash flow, and lifetime value, not just week-to-week efficiency.

If the answer is yes, that’s a smart move. Sustainable scaling is about long-term revenue, not short-term optimisation.

Building the Brand While You Scale

Purpose-led brands do not grow on discounts; they grow on belief.

That means showing up with campaigns that educate, entertain, and connect, not just convert.

In Ads Manager, that looks like introducing upper-funnel campaigns, even on a modest budget. For example:

• Run video view or engagement campaigns to warm up new audiences

• Use Advantage+ Shopping or broad targeting to find high-intent prospects while maintaining efficiency

• Test creative that tells your brand story, not just promotes offers

Even allocating a small percentage of spend to reach and storytelling can significantly improve your lower-funnel performance over time.

The Bigger Picture

You didn’t start your brand to obsess over dashboards. You started it to solve a problem, build community, and make a difference.

Scaling with purpose means zooming out, focusing less on vanity metrics and more on the numbers that fuel both profit and impact.

Ready to Rethink Your Metrics?

If you’re ready to step back from short-term numbers and scale strategically, let us make it easier.

Book a Power Hour to review your ad performance and growth strategy, or let us take Meta Ads Management off your plate so you can focus on building the brand.