Kill the ROAS Crutch: Build a Profit Stack

Episode notes

For years, ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) was the go-to metric for performance marketers. It was simple, clear, and instantly gratifying - the higher, the better. But as Mark Deruyter points out in our latest episode of The MarTech Matrix , that once-reliable metric has quietly become one of the most misleading KPIs in modern marketing. We cover: The Problem with ROAS The Better Stack: MER, CAC, and LTV Measuring What Matters How AI Is Changing the Game Speed, Fit, and Impact: A New Way to Buy Tech Takeaways ROAS is overrated. It relies on platform data and third-party cookies, which makes it unreliable in today’s privacy-first world. It measures spend efficiency, not profitability, and can create a false sense of success. Shift to MER, CAC, and LTV. Trust first-party data. Platform dashboards are directional only. Real insight comes from CRM and transaction data that connect spend directly to sales and retention. Retention is AI’s next frontier. AI can now identify inactive customers, predict churn, and trigger personalized outreach automatically. Retention automation is becoming the biggest growth lever for established brands.

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