Case Study: 580% Profit Growth by Lowering ROAS

If you’ve been reading this series, and still feel like lowering ROAS sounds risky, this case study is for you.

This isn’t theory. This is a real ecommerce brand that grew its revenue by 134%, profit by 580%, and new customers by over 130%, all by doing the thing most brands are scared to do:

Letting ROAS go down to scale up.

Here’s what happened.

The Backstory: Stuck at a Plateau¶

This direct-to-consumer brand came to us in 2022 with a common challenge:

• Profitable business ✅
• Solid product-market fit ✅
• But growth had stalled. ❌

From 2021 to 2022, they saw just 3% year-over-year growth, despite running strong ROAS campaigns and controlling costs tightly.

Their strategy?

• Keep ROAS between 5x and 8x
• Cap media spend at ~$20K/month
• Focus on “budget efficiency”

Sound familiar?

The Problem: High ROAS, Low Growth¶

Here’s what we diagnosed:

• Their marketing budget was working… but way too small
• ROAS looked great… but new customer growth was flat
• Their focus on “efficiency” had become a growth bottleneck

In other words, they were stuck in the ROAS trap - celebrating a high ratio while missing out on exponential growth.

The Strategy: Lower ROAS, Increase Scale¶

We flipped the strategy.

Our hypothesis:¶

If we lower ROAS targets intentionally, and increase ad spend, we’ll acquire more customers, and generate higher total profit, even if the efficiency per dollar drops.

Here’s what we implemented:

1. Dropped the ROAS target from 8.6x → 3.97x
   
2. Increased monthly ad spend from ~$21K → $68K+
   
3. Focused on:
   • High-intent audience testing
   • Creative scaling
   • Daily MER and contribution margin tracking
   • First-time customer growth

The Results: A Transformative Year¶

Yes, you read that right.

134% revenue growth
580% profit growth
132% more new customers

And ROAS? Cut in half, intentionally.

Why It Worked¶

We stopped protecting ROAS, and started chasing scale.

• Lower ROAS unlocked more spend capacity
• More spend drove more customer acquisition
• Customer growth drove more future LTV
• The result? Massive profit growth despite lower efficiency

And because CAC stayed under their LTV, it was sustainable growth, and not just a flash in the pan.

What This Means for Your Business¶

This brand didn’t change their product.

They didn’t get acquired.
They didn’t rebrand.
They didn’t go viral on TikTok.

They just stopped playing defense with their ad budget, and started investing for growth.

If you’re running high ROAS campaigns, and still not hitting your revenue goals, you might be in the exact same spot.

Scale Doesn’t Look Perfect¶

High growth doesn’t always look efficient.
ROAS will dip. CAC will bounce. CPMs will spike.

But if you’re tracking the right metrics, LTV, contribution margin, customer volume, you can scale profitably and sustainably.

Stop measuring your success by ratios.
Start measuring by how big your business can actually become.

Explore Human’s Ecommerce Marketing Services¶

This case study is the result of our Growth ROAS framework in action.
If you want to model your own path to scalable acquisition, we can help.

👉Learn more about how Human helps brands grow

Read the Book: Why High ROAS Is Bad for Your Ecommerce Business¶

This case study is just one of several real-world results from brands that made the mindset shift.

📘 Read the book → High ROAS Is Bad For Your Ecommerce Business