02/01/2022
The 4 steps I would do if I had a Shopify store & I was running Facebook ads or TikTok ads & I was struggling to get a good ROAS:
1. Use platform specific promo codes. 🙅♀️ Don't use the same promo codes across several platforms, otherwise you won't be able to get a more clear view of where your sales are coming from.
2. Optimize the website! This one is SO important, I can't stress it enough. 📣 The conversion rate needs to be high enough for the AOV. For example, if my store only has a 2% conversion rate, my AOV (aka average order value) would need to be $100+. As a general rule, the lower your AOV is, the higher your conversion rate needs to be. If you don't have these metrics optimized or high enough, you simply WON'T be able to get a good ROAS.
3. Use individual landing pages for each platform. That way you can display the platform specific promo codes ON those pages, to make sure you can track as much traffic as possible (the iOS changes have made this harder). 🚨 Pro tip: use automatic-apply promo code links. You can grab them in Shopify or create them with this formula:
https:///discount/?redirect=/products/
4. Manually calculate your ROAS based on your promo code usage. Take the sales generated (based on promo code usage) and divide it by the ad spend per platform, you'll get the manually calculated ROAS. This number is often 15-50% higher than what ad manager displays right now, so it will give you a more accurate gauge on how well your ads are performing. To get more granular, you can separate promo codes and landing pages by each step in the funnel (we usually do TOF and BOF).
Pro tip: If you use the Recharge app, their discount code attribution section make this sooooooo easy.
Here's the secret to all of this: if you really focus on #2, this will improve your ROAS even if you don't change anything about your ads -- both the ROAS that appears in ad manager and manually calculated. This is because you won't be able to get a good ROAS without your site optimized! Of course a solid strategy & well managed ads are both very important, BUT perfect ads can't outrun a low conversion rate.