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.
- The modern marketer’s must-have skills:
- Buy technology based on speed, fit, and impact. If a tool can’t be implemented and delivering results within 30 days, it’s probably not the right one. Focus on solutions that make your team faster and smarter, not bloated with features.
- Collaboration beats silos. The best marketing teams align brand, creative, and performance to connect storytelling with measurable growth.
- Bottom line: Move beyond vanity metrics. Build a profit stack grounded in first-party data, AI, and metrics that matter — MER, CAC, and LTV. The future belongs to marketers who measure what actually drives profit, not just performance.
Chapters
01:27 How the marketer’s job changed (real-time, cross-team)
06:30 Brand’s rising importance & authenticity
09:02 Gut vs data (keep the art, validate the inputs)
12:36 Tools that accelerate marketplace performance (Stackline, Helium 10)
14:21 First-party truth over platform dashboards
15:32 Overrated metrics: ROAS → shift to MER, CAC, LTV
17:46 How to think about LTV at earlier-stage brands
21:32 Buying tech: 30-day implementation mindset; time-to-value
24:31 What vendors miss (research, economics, CFO proof)
30:42 AI’s impact: compress data → creative → execution
32:07 Acquisition vs retention (why retention wins next)
35:10 Future skills: data fluency, AI literacy, brand authenticity
38:23 Underrated channels: Affiliate & SEO (and AEO)
40:53 BFCM tip: have backup copy/creative variants ready
