The metrics that actually matter.

Marketing Efficiency Ratio(MER)

Total revenue divided by total marketing spend across every channel. Unlike platform ROAS, MER can’t be inflated by each platform claiming credit for the same sale.

Our take: This is the number we run accounts on. One honest figure, reconciled to your bank - not Meta marking its own homework.

Profit on Ad Spend(POAS)

Contribution margin (revenue after COGS, shipping and returns) divided by ad spend. Where ROAS counts revenue, POAS counts profit.

Our take: A 5× ROAS on a 20% margin product barely breaks even; a 3× ROAS on a 60% margin product genuinely makes money. POAS tells you which.

Return on Ad Spend(ROAS)

Revenue attributed to ads divided by ad spend. The default platform metric - useful, but blind to your margin and prone to over-attribution.

Our take: We watch it, but we never optimise to it alone. A great ROAS can still be a loss-making account.

Customer Acquisition Cost(CAC)

The total cost to acquire one new customer, including media and fees. Best read as blended CAC (all spend ÷ all new customers).

Our take: We price new-customer acquisition separately from repeat demand so you’re not overpaying for sales you’d have got anyway.

Lifetime Value(LTV)

The total contribution margin a customer generates over their lifetime. The other half of the CAC equation - acquisition only makes sense relative to LTV.

Our take: LTV-aware bidding lets you spend more to win the customers actually worth winning.

Cost Per Acquisition(CPA)

The cost of a single conversion - a purchase, lead or sign-up - depending on how the conversion is defined.

Cost Per Qualified Lead(CPQL)

In B2B, the cost of a lead the sales team actually wants - not just any form fill. The honest alternative to a cheap, unqualified cost-per-lead.

Our take: For B2B we judge on CPQL and pipeline, never a blended ecommerce revenue MER.

Contribution Margin

Revenue minus all variable costs (COGS, shipping, payment fees, returns). What’s left to cover ad spend, overheads and profit.

Our take: The foundation of profit-true bidding - we bid on margin reality, not headline AOV.

Break-even ROAS

The ROAS at which an account stops losing money - calculated as 1 ÷ contribution margin %. Spend below it and ads cost more than they return.

Our take: Knowing your break-even ROAS turns a vanity number into a decision threshold.

Attribution

How credit for a sale is assigned across the touchpoints that led to it. Last-click over-credits the final platform; blended measurement avoids the trap.

Creative Fatigue

The decline in an ad’s performance as your audience sees it too often. The fix is a steady supply of fresh, proven creative.

Our take: Our weekly concept slate exists precisely to stay ahead of fatigue.

Performance Max(PMax)

Google’s automated, multi-channel campaign type. Powerful but opaque - it optimises for conversions, not your margins, unless tightly governed.

Ad Longevity

How long an ad has been running continuously. The single best public signal that a creative is profitable - brands don’t keep losing ads live.

Our take: If a competitor ad has run 180 days, it’s working. Longevity is the backbone of our ad library.