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Decrease that ROAS

Pretty good way to get fired, right? Well, not if you’re putting true incremental brand growth ahead of what can be the shiny fake news of some high ROAS numbers.

When we began partnering with JOLLY TIME popcorn this summer, it came time to establish targets for the iBotta, Instacart, Walmart Connect and other investments in our plan.

By elevating the importance of Household Penetration growth to our number one marketing priority, we were able to have a richer ROAS target-setting discussion than simply “higher is better.” High ROAS in the past had been primarily driven by prioritizing past brand purchasers. With that approach, too much of the budget can be spent rewarding people who would have bought without an incentive, or with a much lower offer value. Re-prioritizing to new buyers meant our ROAS would likely be lower, but with the right targeting our new household acquisition would be much more significant. Which we ended up seeing in the form of a noticeable sales uplift.

The Household Penetration focus also helped us experiment with conquesting in adjacent snack categories. And as we continue to explore other trending need states relevant to the Jolly Time value proposition, we see more and more potential brand growth over time.

The key step: align marketing and broader leadership on the value of new buyers to your brand. Set ROAS targets to break even against that number. As long as your repeat rate is healthy, you’ll be increasing your incremental growth potential.