Which ads make money, and which just spend?

The question and the data it needs

One campaign, read the way Replo shows it

Replo Insights puts spend, purchases, ROAS and cost per purchase for each campaign on one screen, each against the period before.

A paid social visit is worth a third of a search visit

• Email and SMS

  $4.27

• Organic search

  $3.12

• Paid search

  $2.30

• Direct

  $1.48

• Organic social

  $1.08

• Paid social

  $1.06

What to ask, in order

1. 01

   Find the ads with no orders

   Ask which ads spent more than a set amount this week with zero purchases. Those are the cheapest savings you have.

2. 02

   Rank the rest by cost per purchase

   ROAS rewards ads that sell expensive orders. Cost per purchase tells you what a customer costs, whatever they bought.

3. 03

   Work out your break-even ROAS

   Divide one by your gross margin. At a 50% margin you need a ROAS of 2 to break even; at 40%, 2.5.

4. 04

   Check the page each ad opens

   A good ad on a weak page still loses. For the median store, a paid social visit is worth $1.06 against $3.12 for a search visit.

Check the answer before you act

1. 01

   Match purchases to orders

   Ad platforms count a purchase days after a click or a view. Compare their total with your store's orders for the same dates.

2. 02

   Give new ads a week

   An ad in its first days hasn't left the learning phase. Judge it once it has spent a few times your cost per purchase.

3. 03

   Turn off one thing at a time

   Pause the worst ad, then ask the same question next week to see whether total orders held.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good ROAS for an online store?

One that beats your break-even: one divided by your gross margin. A store with a 50% margin breaks even at a ROAS of 2, and one with a 33% margin at 3. Judge each ad against your own break-even, not a number from another store.

Why don't Meta's purchases match my store's orders?

By default, Meta counts a purchase up to seven days after a click and one day after a view, and two platforms can both claim the same order. Your store counts each order once. Use the platform to rank ads and your store's orders for the total.

Does Replo know my profit per ad?

Not on its own. Replo reads spend, purchases and ROAS from Meta and Google Ads, but not your cost of goods. Tell it your margin in the question and it works out break-even ROAS and which ads clear it.