Definition

Return On Ad Spend, a metric that tells you how many dollars you made for every dollar spent on advertising. It sounds simple until you realize the attribution model is held together with duct tape and wishful thinking.

Example Usage

"Our ROAS is 4x, which sounds great until you factor in the six people it takes to manage the ads, at which point it's more like 0.5x."

Related Terms

Intermediate

truth decay

The gradual erosion of factual accuracy in marketing claims through iterative copywriting until statements become technically false. The telephone game played with compliance.

📣 Marketing / Advertising
Beginner

lifetime value

The predicted total revenue a customer will generate over their entire relationship with your business, used to justify spending obscene amounts on acquisition. Abbreviated as LTV or CLV, because marketers love acronyms almost as much as optimistic financial projections.

📣 Marketing / Advertising
Intermediate

hygiene content

Basic, always-on content that answers common questions and maintains consistent brand presence. The vegetables of content marketing—not exciting, but necessary.

📣 Marketing / Advertising
Advanced

marketing qualified account

In B2B marketing, an entire company or organization identified as a good-fit prospect rather than just an individual lead. Abbreviated as MQA, or 'that whole building full of people we want to sell to.'

📣 Marketing / Advertising
Advanced

Brand Equity

The intangible value of a brand name that makes people pay $5 for a coffee they could make at home for 30 cents. It's basically the financial measurement of how successfully you've brainwashed the public into thinking your logo means something.

📣 Marketing / Advertising
Intermediate

steam roller pricing

An aggressive discounting pattern where prices progressively decrease to move inventory, crushing margin like asphalt under heavy machinery. The retail death spiral in action.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

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