Understanding real ROAS calculation
How Metrikia calculates your true ROAS by cross-referencing ad data with CRM sales. Discover why platform-reported ROAS is misleading and how to make better decisions.
Platform ROAS vs Real ROAS: the gap nobody shows you
Platform ROAS: a profitable illusion
When Meta or Google show you a 4x ROAS, here is how they calculate it:
Meta ROAS = Pixel conversion value / Spend
The problem is threefold:
- The "conversion value" is based on the pixel (web event), not actual sales
- The attribution window includes views (1 day) and clicks (7 days) : a user who saw your ad then bought 6 days later via Google is counted by Meta
- iOS 14+ tracking degrades pixel accuracy: Meta models (estimates) a portion of conversions
Result: On average, media buyers see a 30 to 50% gap between platform-reported ROAS and real ROAS based on CRM sales. Metrikia makes this gap visible.
Metrikia Real ROAS: truth through numbers
Metrikia ROAS = Won deal revenue (CRM) / Ad spend
The fundamental difference: the numerator comes from your CRM (money actually collected or contracted), not algorithmic estimates. This is the metric that matters for your business.
How Metrikia calculates ROAS, the full chain
1. Automatic spend collection
Metrikia syncs spend from all your connected platforms via their official APIs:
- Meta Ads: daily spend by campaign, ad set, and ad
- Google Ads: same, with support for Search, Display, YouTube, and Performance Max campaigns
- TikTok Ads: same, with Spark Ads and In-Feed campaigns
Sync is automatic (every hour) and includes the last 90 days of history on initial connection.
2. Lead attribution to their ad source
Each CRM lead is linked to its ad source through multiple mechanisms:
- UTM parameters: automatically captured when a prospect clicks an ad and fills a form
- Lead Ads matching: Metrikia matches Facebook Lead Ads leads by email/phone (GDPR-compliant PII hashing)
- CRM source field: if your CRM already contains the source, it is imported automatically
- Manual attribution: for leads coming in by phone or events
3. Sales pipeline tracking
As a lead progresses through your CRM pipeline (new > contacted > qualified > proposal > won), Metrikia tracks each stage. When a deal is marked as won, the amount is counted as revenue attributed to the original ad source.
4. Final calculation and derived metrics
| Data | Source | Reliability |
|---|---|---|
| Spend | Ad platform APIs | Exact (billing data) |
| Revenue | CRM (won deals) | Exact (real sales) |
| Attribution | Lead > Ad source | Depends on attribution rate |
| Real ROAS | CRM Revenue / Ad Spend | The only reliable metric |
| Real CPL | Ad Spend / Number of CRM leads | More reliable than platform CPL |
| Real CPA | Ad Spend / Number of won deals | The true acquisition cost |
| MER | Total Revenue / Total Marketing Spend | Macro view of efficiency |
Concrete example: the difference in action
Real month raw data
- Meta spend February: 5,000 EUR
- Google spend February: 3,000 EUR
- CRM leads from Meta: 25 (Real CPL: 200 EUR)
- CRM leads from Google: 18 (Real CPL: 167 EUR)
- Won deals from Meta: 8 (total 12,000 EUR)
- Won deals from Google: 10 (total 18,000 EUR)
Side-by-side calculation
| Platform | Spend | CRM Revenue | Real ROAS | Real CPL | Real CPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meta | 5,000 EUR | 12,000 EUR | 2.4x | 200 EUR | 625 EUR |
| 3,000 EUR | 18,000 EUR | 6.0x | 167 EUR | 300 EUR | |
| Total | 8,000 EUR | 30,000 EUR | 3.75x | 186 EUR | 444 EUR |
Comparison with platform-reported ROAS
| Platform | Reported ROAS | Real ROAS (Metrikia) | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta | 4.1x | 2.4x | -41% |
| 5.5x | 6.0x | +9% |
The decisive insight: Meta overestimates by 41% (wide attribution window + iOS 14 modeling). Google slightly underestimates (+9%) because it only counts last click. Without Metrikia, you would over-allocate your budget to Meta thinking it performs better.
How to improve your real ROAS with Metrikia
- Identify profitable campaigns: Filter by ROAS > your profitability threshold in the ADS tab
- Cut unprofitable campaigns: Real ROAS < 1x = you are losing money
- Reallocate budget: Transfer to the campaigns and ad sets with the best real ROAS
- Analyze ad sets: ROAS often varies from 1x to 10x between audiences within the same campaign
- Track changes over time: A declining ROAS may indicate audience fatigue. Metrikia alerts you
- Use MER: For a macro view, the Marketing Efficiency Ratio gives you overall profitability across all sources
Pro tip: Ask Diana "Which campaigns have a real ROAS below 2x for the last 2 weeks?" to quickly identify performance drops.
To go further, check out our blog, the documentation or contact support.