Low eCommerce ROAS? 16 ideas with brand examples

eCommerce ROAS isn’t just dependent on the return from your ads.

It’s influenced by everything –  your products, website, pricing, value proposition, testimonials, social proof, and other conversion touchpoints on your store.

In this article, we’ll explore:

7 on-site customizations to increase return on ad spend 

9 ideas on how to personalize eCommerce ads for better returns

Let’s dive in!

8 on-site customizations to increase return on ad spend (ROAS)

1. Optimize landing pages for ad traffic 

Best-converting landing pages grab people's attention, explain why a product is great, and nudge shoppers to complete the purchase.

Here are some tips on how to improve return on ad spend through landing pages:

✔️ Ensure your landing page message aligns closely with the ad that brought the visitor there. Consistency in messaging increases trust and reduces confusion.

✔️ Implement subtle micro-interactions through the landing page, such as animated buttons, hover effects, or interactive tooltips, to enhance user engagement and create a more polished user experience.

✔️ Test your landing page across different devices and screen resolutions to ensure a seamless experience for mobile users.

✔️ Instead of static images, incorporate swipeable image galleries or carousels that allow shoppers to easily browse multiple product images or key features without leaving the page. 

✔️ Speed up your landing page to prevent visitors from bouncing. Compress images, minify code, and utilize caching to improve load times.

2. Get shoppers to spend more time on your site

When it comes to eCommerce, the average order value refers to the average amount of money spent by customers during a single transaction on your online store. 

Increasing the AOV is crucial for boosting revenue and maximizing profitability. 

Here are some tips on how to improve return on ad spend (ROAS): 

✔️ Create urgency and incentivize larger purchases by offering limited-time promotions such as "buy one, get one free" or "spend X amount and get a gift card."

✔️ Highlight the benefits of value-added services such as extended warranties, premium packaging, or expedited shipping options for an additional fee. 

3. Amplify UGC 

Highlighting user-generated content means leveraging content created by your customers to enhance the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns

Here are some tips on how to improve return on ad spend (ROAS): 

✔️ Create dedicated landing pages that feature user-generated content, such as customer reviews, photos, or testimonials.

Direct traffic from your ads to these UGC-centric landing pages to provide social proof and validate the claims made in your advertisements.

✔️ Enable UGC-driven question-and-answer sections on product pages to facilitate customer interaction and address common queries.

✔️ Implement a virtual styling feature on your website that allows customers to create outfits or style products using UGC submitted by other customers. 

4. Build seasonal promotions

Seasonal promotions can help to attract more customers, increase sales, and maximize return on ad spend during key shopping seasons and holidays.

Here are some tips on how to improve return on ad spend (ROAS): 

✔️ Develop seasonal content marketing campaigns that complement your on-site promotions and drive traffic to your website.

Create blog posts, gift guides, or holiday-themed videos that showcase your products, inspire customers, and reinforce the seasonal messaging.

✔️ Capitalize on seasonal promotions to cross-sell or up-sell related products, accessories, or add-ons that complement customers' purchases. See how Wayfair does it for St. Paddy’s Day:

✔️ Offer digital gift cards with seasonal designs or themes that customers can purchase and send to friends and family as holiday gifts. 

Don't forget to check out: eCommerce On-site Optimization: 26 Strategies To Boost Conversions

5. Collect zero party data

Unlike first-party data, which is collected implicitly through user actions or transactions, and third-party data, which is acquired from external sources, zero-party data is voluntarily provided by shoppers with their explicit consent.

Here are some tips on how to improve return on ad spend (ROAS): 

✔️ Build interactive quizzes or assessments that help customers discover products tailored to their needs or preferences.

✔️ Incentivize users to share zero-party data by offering rewards, discounts, or exclusive perks in exchange for providing information about their preferences, interests, or shopping habits. 

✔️ Enable users to create and share wishlists with friends, family, or social networks directly on your website.

Collect zero-party data on wishlist contents and sharing behaviors to gain insights into user preferences, gift-giving occasions, and purchase intent, informing targeted marketing campaigns.

6. Offset advertising costs with better SEO

You can reduce your dependence on paid advertising, attract more targeted traffic to your site, and ultimately offset advertising costs with better SEO results.

Here are some tips on how to improve return on ad spend (ROAS) through better SEO: 

✔️ Optimize your content to appear in rich snippets and featured snippets—enhanced search results that provide immediate answers to user queries.

Structure your content in a format that addresses common questions, FAQs, or "how-to" guides to increase the likelihood of being featured prominently in search results.

✔️ Create content optimized for long-tail keywords to capture highly relevant traffic and improve your chances of ranking higher in search results.

✔️ If you have a physical location or serve customers in specific geographic areas, optimize your website for local search by creating and optimizing Google My Business listings, local citations, and location-specific landing pages. 

7. Use mobile-friendly themes

Mobile-friendly themes involve optimizing your website's design and functionality to provide an optimal experience for mobile users, which can lead to increased engagement, conversions, and ultimately, a higher return on your advertising investment.

Here are some tips on how to improve return on ad spend (ROAS): 

✔️ Ensure that your website is built using a responsive design framework that automatically adjusts and optimizes the layout, content, and navigation based on the user's device screen size and orientation. 

✔️ Place important elements, such as navigation menus, call-to-action buttons, and form fields, within easy reach of users' thumbs to facilitate one-handed navigation on mobile devices.

✔️ Streamline your checkout process and forms for mobile users to minimize friction and maximize conversions.

Use autofill functionality, reduce the number of form fields, and provide one-click payment methods. 

8. Conversational commerce

In 2024, conversational commerce is more than simply adding a live chat on your homepage.

Here's how you can apply conversational advertising to improve ROAS:

• Provide virtual personal shopping assistants through messaging apps or live chat on your website. 

These assistants could be AI-powered or human-operated, providing personalized styling advice, outfit recommendations, or gift suggestions based on the customer's taste and occasion. 

• Leverage augmented reality (AR) technology to enable virtual try-on experiences for your products, such as clothing, accessories, or cosmetics. 

See how Warby Parker collaborated with Apple’s ARKit to show shoppers a more accurate fit than a standard social media filter might provide.

8 ideas on how to personalize eCommerce ads to increase ROAS 

1. Humanized copy  

Writing humanized copy for ads involves crafting messaging that resonates with the emotions, needs, and values of your target audience.

Here's how you can write copy to improve ROAS:

• Instead of simply listing the features of your product or service, emphasize the benefits and value it provides to your audience. Explain how it solves their problems, improves their lives, or fulfills their desires clearly and compellingly.
• Use persuasive language and urgency tactics to create a sense of urgency and fear of missing out (FOMO) in your copy.
• Share stories about your brand's journey, origins, and the people behind it to humanize your brand and foster deeper connections with customers.
• Continuously test different variations of your ad copy to see what resonates best with your audience. Analyze performance metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and engagement levels, and use the insights gained to refine and optimize your copy over time.

2. Consistent branding 

Branding can have a significant impact on increasing return on ad spend (ROAS).

With the right strategies, you can strengthen brand recognition and build trust with customers.

Here's how you can optimize branding to improve ROAS:

• Maintain consistent branding elements such as colors, fonts, and styles across all product images to reinforce your brand identity and create a cohesive visual experience for users.

Consistent branding helps build brand recognition and trust among your target audience.

• Invest in visually appealing branding elements such as logo design, website design, packaging, and product imagery. 
• Incorporate sustainability and ethical practices into your branding efforts to appeal to socially conscious consumers.

Highlight your commitment to environmental responsibility, fair labor practices, and ethical sourcing to attract customers who prioritize sustainability and ethics in their purchasing decisions.

3. Remarketing

Emails can be a highly effective strategy for improving return on ad spend (ROAS) by re-engaging with shoppers who have already shown interest in your products. 

Here's how you can remarket and improve ROAS:

• Use data from users' browsing and purchase history to recommend relevant products in your remarketing emails.

Showcase complementary or related items that may interest them based on their past interactions with your website.

• Create customized email workflows that nurture leads through the sales funnel and deliver timely, targeted messages based on their engagement level and stage in the buyer's journey.
• Choose reviews that are relevant to the products or services you're promoting in your remarketing emails.

Select reviews that highlight key features, benefits, or positive experiences that are likely to resonate with your target audience.

4. Localized targeting

Localized targeting ads can be a highly effective strategy for improving return on ad spend (ROAS) by reaching users in specific geographic locations with tailored messaging and offers. 

Here's how you can apply localized targeting to improve ROAS:

• Tailor your ad copy to resonate with users in each targeted location by incorporating localized language, references, or cultural nuances.
• Create localized offers, promotions, or incentives that are specific to users in each target location.
• If you have a physical store, then serve ads to users when they are near your physical store locations or competitor locations to drive foot traffic and increase conversions.

• Offer personalized assistance and troubleshooting in users' preferred languages and time zones to enhance the customer experience and build trust, driving positive word-of-mouth referrals and repeat business.

5. Shoppable posts 

Here's how you can use shoppable posts to improve ROAS:

• Built a shoppable version of its feed on Instagram to let shoppers purchase items without leaving the app. 
• Take advantage of Instagram Stories and Highlights to showcase your products in a more dynamic and ephemeral format. Use the "Swipe Up" feature in Stories to direct users to specific product pages on your website or tagged products in your feed.

6. Limited editions

Limited edition ads can be a powerful tool for improving return on ad spend (ROAS) by creating a sense of urgency and exclusivity among consumers.

Here's how you can use limited-edition ads to improve ROAS:

• Partner with well-known artists, designers, or celebrities for limited-edition product collaborations.
• Use countdown timers or deadlines in your limited edition ads to create a sense of urgency and encourage immediate action. Highlight the remaining time or availability of the limited edition product or offer to motivate consumers to purchase before it's too late.
• Use targeted ads to promote pre-order availability and offer exclusive perks or bonuses for customers who pre-order, such as early access or special discounts.

7. SEO  

When you own an eCommerce store, you already know keywords are important.  

It’s what your potential customers are putting into their searches to find the products they're looking for. 

Here's how you can optimize your ads to improve ROAS:

• SEO ads allow for precise targeting based on keywords, demographics, location, and other factors, ensuring that your ads reach the most relevant audience for your business.
• Take advantage of ad extensions such as site links, callouts, and structured snippets to enhance the visibility and relevance of your SEO ads in search engine results.

• Regularly review and optimize your list of negative keywords to filter out irrelevant traffic and improve ad targeting.

By excluding keywords that are not relevant to your products or services, you can reduce wasted ad spend and improve the overall efficiency of your campaigns, resulting in a higher ROAS.

• Incorporate descriptive terms that highlight key features or attributes of your products, such as "waterproof," "wireless," or "high-definition."

8. Ad quality score 

Improving ad quality scores can have a positive impact on return on ad spend (ROAS) by increasing ad relevance, reducing costs, and improving overall ad performance. 

Here are some strategies to improve ad quality score and ultimately enhance ROAS:

• Organize your ad campaigns into tightly-themed ad groups with relevant keywords and ad copy.

This helps improve ad relevance and makes it easier to tailor your messaging to specific audience segments, leading to higher-quality ads and better performance.

• Ensure that conversion tracking is properly set up and implemented for your ads to accurately measure and attribute conversions.

Use conversion data to optimize your campaigns for better performance and ROAS, focusing on keywords, ad variations, and targeting options that drive the most valuable conversions.

• Adjust your bidding strategy and ad position to maximize ad visibility and improve ad performance.

Aim for positions that balance visibility with cost-effectiveness, and use bidding strategies such as manual bidding, automated bidding, or bid modifiers to achieve your advertising goals while maintaining a high ad quality score.

FAQs

1. What is ROAS in eCommerce?

ROAS stands for Return on Ad Spend. In eCommerce, it's a metric used to measure the revenue generated from advertising campaigns relative to the amount spent on those ads.

2. What’s the average eCommerce ROAS?

According to a study by Nielsen, the average ROAS across all industries is 2.87:1. 

This means that for every dollar spent on advertising, the company will make $2.87. 

In eCommerce, that average ratio goes up to 4:1.

3. How to calculate ROAS?

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is a key metric in e-commerce marketing that measures the revenue generated from advertising relative to the amount spent on those ads. 

It's calculated by dividing the revenue generated from ads by the cost of those ads. 

For example, if you spend $1000 on advertising and generate $5000 in revenue, your ROAS would be 5:1, meaning you earned $5 for every $1 spent on ads. 

ROAS is a critical indicator of the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns in driving sales and is used to assess the profitability of your marketing efforts.

4. Why is ROAS important in eCommerce?

ROAS is important because it helps businesses understand the effectiveness of their advertising efforts. 

It indicates how much revenue is being generated for every dollar spent on advertising, allowing businesses to optimize their ad campaigns for maximum profitability.

5. How does ROAS differ from ROI (Return on Investment)?

ROAS specifically focuses on the return generated from advertising spend, while ROI considers the return on overall investment, which may include factors beyond advertising, such as operational expenses or product development costs. ROAS provides a more targeted view of the effectiveness of advertising efforts.

Wrapping up

A positive eCommerce ROI is a means to an end. But, the road isn’t as smooth.

98% of visitors who visit an eCommerce site—drop off without buying anything.

Why: user experience issues that cause friction for visitors.

And this is the problem Convertcart solves.

We've helped 500+ eCommerce stores (in the US) improve user experience—and 2X their conversions.

How we can help you:

Our conversion experts can audit your site—identify UX issues, and suggest changes to improve conversions.