Measurement & insight / AMEY & CO
Beyond ROAS: the numbers your marketing dashboard should show.
Return on ad spend is useful, but it cannot tell the whole commercial story. Build reporting around decisions, customer value and contribution.
Amey & Co · 2 min read ·
Know what ROAS includes
ROAS is attributed revenue divided by advertising spend. It describes a relationship inside a defined reporting setup. Before comparing two figures, check the attribution window, whether view-through conversions are included, how returns are handled and which costs sit outside the calculation.
For Oxford Brush Company, the reported Pinterest retargeting result was 8.05× ROAS, with campaigns connected with Klaviyo. That is a specific campaign result. It is not a profit margin, a guarantee for another business or a statement that every channel achieved the same return.
Do not add every platform’s revenue together
Several platforms can take credit for the same purchase. Someone might see an advert, receive an email and later buy through a direct visit. Adding the attributed revenue from each dashboard can therefore overstate the store’s actual sales.
Keep total business revenue visible alongside channel reporting. Use the store or agreed commercial system for the overall trading view, and use platform reports to investigate campaign behaviour. Differences between reports should prompt a question about definitions rather than an automatic conclusion that one is broken.
Show contribution alongside growth
Revenue can rise while the amount left to support the business falls. Product cost, discounts, fulfilment, payment fees and returns all influence the contribution from an order. Agree the cost definition with the person responsible for the commercial numbers.
Consider a hypothetical store with £10,000 attributed revenue and £2,000 ad spend: ROAS is 5×. If variable costs before advertising are £7,000, only £1,000 remains after that ad spend, before overheads. The example shows why a strong-looking ratio needs context; it is not a client result.
Separate acquisition from repeat business
Show new and returning customer behaviour where the data supports it. A retargeting campaign aimed at an existing audience serves a different role from prospecting. Compare each with its purpose, while keeping an eye on whether the business is developing a healthy flow of new customers.
For a service business, use qualified enquiries, proposals and acquired clients instead of forcing ecommerce measures into the report. Include the time it takes to convert. A dashboard should reflect the way the business earns money, rather than the defaults of a reporting template.
End the report with a decision
A useful review answers three questions: what changed, what might explain it and what will we do next? Add notes for promotions, stock gaps, tracking changes and unusual trading periods. Assign each proposed action an owner and a point for review.
Avoid filling the opening screen with every available metric. Start with commercial performance, acquisition efficiency and customer behaviour, then provide detail where needed. The value of a dashboard is the quality of the decisions it supports, not how many charts it can display.