I’m Erik Huberman, and I have a simple opinion that ruffles feathers: our industry’s obsession with ROAS is hurting marketing. ROAS looks clean on a dashboard. It makes us feel in control. But it often tells the wrong story and leads teams to chase short wins while the brand withers.
Here’s what I mean. For years, I’ve built and scaled companies. I’ve seen what actually drives growth: a brand people trust, a product they love, and a customer base that sticks around. ROAS won’t build that on its own.
“Definitely ROAS. That phrase has killed me for a long time… it was all about input output and not about actually building a brand and building a customer base… it’s just very rudimentary.”
The Core Problem With ROAS
ROAS is a blunt metric. It tells you how much revenue came in right after an ad ran. That’s it. It ignores lifetime value. It ignores word of mouth. It ignores how brand trust lifts every other channel. It can even look great while the business is shrinking.
Worse, teams can game ROAS without growing the company. Cut spend to the bare minimum and ROAS can jump. Target only the easiest bottom-of-funnel clicks and it can spike. Great ROAS, weak growth.
I’m not saying throw it out. I track it too. But I use it to check channel efficiency, not to set strategy. When ROAS becomes the North Star, you steer into a ditch.
What Real Growth Looks Like
When I grew Ellie.com to seven figures in four months, it wasn’t because we worshiped ROAS. We focused on the basics: a clear promise, a product people wanted to talk about, and a clean purchase path. Ads supported that story. They didn’t replace it.
That’s the point many miss. Ads amplify truth. If the brand isn’t there—if customers don’t feel anything—your ROAS will yo-yo. The moment auction prices rise or tracking breaks, the “strategy” collapses.
Here’s how ROAS misleads smart teams that should know better:
- It rewards short-term clicks over long-term loyalty.
- It penalizes top-of-funnel work that builds demand.
- It hides halo effects from PR, influencers, and retail.
- It ignores repeat purchase cycles and referrals.
- It can be inflated by coupons and fire-sale tactics.
These traps are common because ROAS is easy to read and easy to sell. Growth isn’t.
A Better Way to Run Marketing
Build a brand. Measure a business. That’s the job. Use ROAS as one input, but make decisions with a wider view.
Start with clear goals: profitable revenue, healthy cash flow, and a growing customer base. Then track what feeds those goals.
My go-to stack looks like this:
- Acquisition: CAC by channel, new customers, payback period.
- Engagement: repeat rate, time to second purchase, email/SMS lift.
- Brand: direct traffic trend, search lift on your name, survey-based awareness.
- Profit: gross margin after media, contribution by cohort.
Notice what happens. Teams stop arguing over one number and start building a system that compounds.
The Pushback—and Why It Falls Apart
“But ROAS keeps us disciplined.” Sure. Discipline matters. But the wrong discipline kills growth. If the focus is only on last-click revenue, you’ll under-invest in demand creation. You’ll under-invest in loyalty. You’ll ignore everything that makes growth cheaper over time.
“But we need a simple KPI.” Then keep ROAS as a guardrail, not a goal. Hold the true goals higher: profit and growth from loyal customers.
What I Want Marketers to Do Now
Drop the buzzwords. Build something people care about. Teach your team how the business makes money. Use creative that says something real. And yes, keep an eye on ROAS—just don’t let it run the show.
Marketing is not a vending machine. It’s a flywheel. Feed it with story, product, trust, and smart measurement. That is how you win and keep winning.
If this hits a nerve, good. Rethink your scorecard this week. Shift some budget to brand, fix your onboarding, and set targets for repeat purchase and payback. You’ll feel the difference in a quarter—then you’ll wonder why ROAS ever ran your company.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is ROAS, in plain terms?
It’s ad revenue divided by ad spend. If you spend $1,000 and generate $3,000 in tracked revenue, your ROAS is 3. It shows short-term efficiency, not total impact.
Q: When is ROAS actually useful?
Use it to compare campaigns or see if a channel is wasting money. It’s a diagnostic tool, not a company-wide goal or a strategy.
Q: What should I track besides ROAS?
Watch CAC, payback period, repeat rate, contribution margin, and direct traffic. Add brand search lift and simple awareness surveys to see long-term health.
Q: How do I shift my team away from ROAS-only thinking?
Set targets for customer growth, retention, and payback. Tie bonuses to profit and cohort performance. Keep ROAS as a check, not the mission.
Q: How can I measure brand without guessing?
Track trends in direct and branded search, run periodic surveys, and monitor lift across channels after brand campaigns. Use these signals to guide budget, not just last-click data.
