This is where most brands get stuck
- You're growing, but your margin isn't keeping up
- Your marketing runs, but doesn't scale
- You don't know where money is leaking
- Your team grows, but output doesn't
In 30 minutes you'll see:
- Where you're leaving revenue on the table
- What creates immediate impact
- What to stop or scale up
Summary
- 1Problem: ROAS is treated as truth, while it's an assumption
- 2Brand ads: €10K-€20K/month on your own brand name with extreme ROAS - but you're buying back your own customers
- 3We don't advertise on our own brand name (ETQ, TOV)
- 4Freed budget goes to generic terms and new customers
- 5ROAS targets lead to remarketing focus and growth stagnation
The problem
"We're targeting a ROAS of 10." But why, exactly? In almost every account we audit, we see the same thing. A ROAS target that was set somewhere at some point. Nobody knows why that number was chosen. But everything has to meet it. ROAS is treated as truth. While it's actually an assumption. And that assumption is costing you more than you think.
Your ROAS looks good. But your growth stagnates. And you don't dare move your budget. Because what if it doesn't work.
Sound familiar?
This is what we see at almost every brand before we start:
- You have a ROAS target but nobody can explain why
- A large part of your budget goes to brand name ads
- Your ROAS looks good but your growth stagnates
- You mainly advertise on own brand and remarketing
- You don't dare move budget to generic terms
- Your agency optimizes for ROAS instead of growth
You're probably here
You have a ROAS target. It looks good on paper. But you're not growing.
- You have a ROAS target but nobody can explain why
- A large part of your budget goes to brand name ads
- Your ROAS looks good but your growth stagnates
- You don't dare move budget to generic terms
Your ROAS target is not your growth target. And that difference costs you money.
What goes wrong
- Spending €10K-€20K per month advertising on your own brand name
- Using ROAS as the only KPI
- Buying back your own customers via branded search
- Shifting budget to remarketing for easy conversions
- Avoiding generic terms because ROAS is lower there
- Optimizing for numbers instead of growth
- Letting fear determine where your budget goes
Hidden profit
What you waste on your own brand name
We don't advertise on our own brand name. Not for ETQ. Not for TOV. That saves us €10K-€20K per month. That budget goes to generic terms where we win new customers. In 12 months, that's €120K-€240K you can invest in real growth.
Approach
No loose actions, but a system that delivers structural results.
Eliminate brand ads
We don't advertise on our own brand name. Not for ETQ Amsterdam. Not for TOV Essentials. It's like Google standing in front of your store saying: you can come in, but pay first. Of course your ROAS is high on brand. You're buying back your own customers. They were already on their way to you. Yes, sometimes you lose a customer. But that doesn't outweigh what you gain.
- Fully stop or minimize brand ads
- Free up budget for generic growth
- Measure what actually changes in total revenue
- Replace fear with data
Budget to new customers
Freed budget goes to generic search terms. 'Men's sneakers.' 'Gold jewelry.' That's where the people who don't know your brand yet are. That's where your real growth is. Not in buying back existing customers. But in winning new ones.
- Invest in generic search terms with high intent
- Acquire new customers instead of buying back existing ones
- Scalability over short-term ROAS
- Long-term growth as primary KPI
Let go of ROAS targets
In Meta Ads we see the same pattern. ROAS targets lead to agency behavior: budget to remarketing, low funnel, easy conversions. ROAS looks good. Growth stalls. You're optimizing for numbers. Not for growth. The real question isn't 'what's our ROAS?' But: where does our growth come from? Where do we buy new customers? Where are we leaving money on the table?
- Use ROAS as indicator, not as target
- Shift focus to new customers and scalability
- Measure total growth instead of channel ROAS
- Look critically at where your budget actually goes
nCAC + LTV as compass
ROAS tells you nothing about customer quality. What you really want to know: what does a new customer cost (nCAC)? And what does that customer generate over their entire lifetime (LTV)? We now incorporate this for many brands. You want visibility on what a new customer costs in marketing spend. And you want to know the lifetime value of a customer. Only when you know that can you truly decide what to do with your budgets. Not targeting a ROAS of 10. But targeting: this customer costs me €30 and generates €180 over 12 months. That's a completely different conversation.
- Measure nCAC: what does a real new customer cost?
- Calculate LTV per customer segment
- Allocate budget based on nCAC vs LTV ratio
- Stop optimizing for channel ROAS, start with customer value
Why ROAS targets block growth
ROAS targets lead to agency behavior: budget to remarketing, low funnel, easy conversions. You buy back your own customers and call it 'growth'. Meanwhile you're going nowhere. The problem isn't your budget. The problem is how you allocate it.
- Brand ads cost €10K-€20K/month without real growth
- Remarketing focus masks the lack of new customers
- Fear determines budget decisions instead of data
This is exactly what we help you with
We build this system together with you. No theory - execution.
You speak directly with the team. No sales layer.
Result
We don't play political games. We say what we see. Even when it's uncomfortable. Even when it goes against your current strategy. Because your ROAS target is not your growth target.
Typical brand ads budget per month (wasted)
Budget we spend on our own brand name
To generic growth and new customers
Revenue own brands without brand ads
Behind the scenes
Not everything worked right away. We tested, adjusted and kept building. Not every month was growth - but every month brought insight and improvement. That's exactly where the biggest leaps came from.
What this means for you
If someone searches for your brand and still buys elsewhere, they probably weren't your customer anyway. But the customer searching 'men's sneakers' or 'gold jewelry'? They are. If you find them.
- You're spending €50K+ per month on ads
- A large part goes to brand ads with high ROAS
- Your growth stagnates despite 'good' ROAS
- You don't dare move budget
- Your agency optimizes for ROAS instead of growth
- You want an honest conversation about where your money goes
Who we are
We build brands ourselves. And use that knowledge to scale others.
This isn't theory. This is execution experience. We run multiple brands ourselves - and apply the exact same systems for our clients.
We build and scale our own brands
Results across industries - from fashion to real estate
We deploy the same systems for clients
Small team, big impact - no overhead
Closing note
This isn't a trick - it's how we grow structurally.
Growth is rarely linear. Not every month is growth, but every month brings insight and improvement. We work with a select number of brands so we can stay focused on what truly works.
Want to build this for your brand too?
No standard process. We work with a select number of companies – and build scalable growth together.
You speak directly with our team – no sales layer in between.
We work with a limited number of brands at a time.
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