For DTC brands ROAS used to mean everything.

Now it’s just expensive theatre.

What happened???

Think back: you were hitting 3x ROAS and feeling good. Everything works!

But now, your margins are shrinking and growth feels stuck.

Why?

Meta CPMs jumped 19.2% year-over-year in Q1 2025, hitting $11.86 in March. Platform-reported ROAS doesn’t factor in these rising costs or your actual profit margins.

The old “3x and scale” playbook assumes static costs and margins. But when e-commerce brands saw CPM increases of 14% while facing attribution challenges, that math breaks down fast.

What works now:
→ Shift focus to Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER) – total revenue vs total spend
→ Build in 20-30% buffer for rising costs when setting targets
→ Track contribution margin, not just top-line revenue

We helped a $10M DTC brand realize their “profitable” 3.5x ROAS was actually losing money once they factored in rising acquisition costs and true margins.

The result? They lowered their ROAS target to 2.8x but improved actual profitability by 22%.

Stop chasing screenshot metrics.
Start measuring what actually pays the bills.

We’ve got capacity for a few more audits this quarter, drop me a DM to book yours and let’s see if your metrics are real or just smoke and mirrors.