Marketing Mistake #13: Obsessing Over ROAS While Ignoring Incrementality

26 Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

What We See Most Often

Return on ad spend is one of the most commonly referenced metrics in marketing conversations.

It is easy to calculate, easy to compare, and easy to communicate. A strong ROAS number signals efficiency and performance. A weak one triggers immediate concern.

The problem is not that ROAS is irrelevant. The marketing mistake happens when it becomes the primary, or only, lens through which marketing effectiveness is evaluated.

Why This Happens in Performance Driven Environments

As marketing becomes more measurable, leadership often gravitates toward the clearest efficiency metric available.

ROAS provides a straightforward answer to a straightforward question: how much revenue did we generate for every dollar spent? In environments where accountability is emphasized, this simplicity is appealing.

Over time, however, the conversation narrows. Channels that produce high ROAS receive continued investment. Channels with longer feedback loops or less direct attribution are deprioritized.

The result is optimization within the system, not necessarily growth beyond it.

The Hidden Cost of Narrow Efficiency

When ROAS becomes the dominant metric, marketing strategy can shrink.

Teams may prioritize retargeting over prospecting because it performs better on paper. Investments in brand or awareness may be minimized because they are harder to attribute directly. Existing demand is harvested more efficiently, but new demand is not consistently created.

Eventually, growth plateaus. The system becomes efficient at converting the same audience, but it struggles to expand.

What Works Better in Practice

Strong organizations pair efficiency metrics with incrementality thinking.

Instead of asking only how efficiently a channel converts, they ask whether the activity is creating net-new demand or simply capturing demand that would have converted anyway. They balance short-term performance with long-term expansion.

This broader perspective allows marketing to optimize not just for return, but for growth.

A Question Worth Asking

When reviewing performance, ask:

Are we generating new demand, or just capturing what already exists?

If the answer leans heavily toward the latter, the strategy may be efficient but limited.

Why This Matters

Efficiency is important. It is not the same as expansion.

Marketing that focuses solely on return can miss opportunities to build future growth. When incrementality is part of the conversation, investment decisions become more strategic and less reactive.