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Marketing spend optimization

Spend is optimised by moving money from the least profitable use to the most, in steps, and checking the result.

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3 min read · Updated October 26, 2026

In this guide
Key takeaways
  • Rank channels and campaigns by profit per dollar, not revenue per dollar.
  • Move 10 to 20 percent of budget at a time from the weakest to the strongest, and check the result after two weeks.
  • Watch for saturation: the next dollar earns less than the last.
Channel Aprofit per dollar highChannel Bprofit per dollar averageChannel Cprofit per dollar low

Most marketing budgets drift. Last year's split becomes this year's split, and the channels that were strong two years ago keep their share. Optimising spend means making deliberate moves based on evidence. This page gives a method you can run monthly. It uses ROAS vs POAS, attribution tracking and marketing effectiveness.

1. Know your targets

MeasureHow to set it
Break-even ROAS1 รท gross margin
Target POASBreak-even plus the profit you want after overheads
Maximum CACShare of expected lifetime gross profit you are willing to pay
Payback periodHow long you can wait to recover acquisition cost
Check your setup

Check your tracking in one pass

This is an example. Run the check on your own site to see where yours stands.

2. Rank by profit

Take each channel and major campaign. Put spend, revenue, gross profit and POAS side by side. Use first-party numbers where possible, since platform numbers overlap. Open Tracked's analytics shows these together, and the POAS Data Feed (Pro) sends profit to Google Ads. See profit on ad spend.

3. Find waste

  • Spend with no conversions over a long enough period.
  • Brand search that would convert anyway (check with a test).
  • Audiences you already own being paid for twice. Exclude buyers.
  • Tired creative. See ad fatigue.
  • Placements and geographies with poor profit.
Data in, clean out

Raw events in. Clean events out.

Open Tracked collects each event on your own domain, removes the noise and sends what is left to Meta, Google Ads, TikTok.

4. Move budget in steps

1

Choose a source and a destination

The weakest profitable use and the strongest.

2

Move 10 to 20 percent

Not all at once, since platforms need time to adjust.

3

Wait two weeks

Avoid sales events.

4

Compare profit

Before and after, in your own data.

5

Repeat or reverse

Based on the result.

5. Saturation

Every channel has diminishing returns. The first dollars reach the best prospects, later dollars reach less interested people. When marginal POAS (the return on the next dollar) falls below target, stop adding. A test in which you raise spend 20 percent and watch the marginal result is the simplest way to find the point.

6. Allocation review

  1. Update the table of channels with last month's numbers.
  2. Check data quality: do platform numbers match the store?
  3. Decide moves for the coming month.
  4. Record the reason and the expected result.
  5. Check last month's moves against actual results.

Mistakes

SymptomJudging by platform ROAS alone
Likely causeOverlap inflates it.
FixUse blended and profit views.
SymptomChanging everything at once
Likely causeYou cannot tell what worked.
FixMove in steps.
SymptomCutting upper-funnel channels that feed others
Likely causeLast-click hides their role.
FixTest with a holdout. See conversion lift studies.
SymptomIgnoring margin differences
Likely causeRevenue looks the same, profit differs.
FixUse margin per product.
0 of 6 done
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Frequently asked questions

How do I optimise marketing spend?

Rank channels by profit per dollar, move budget in small steps from the weakest to the strongest and check the result.

How much budget should I move at a time?

About 10 to 20 percent, then wait two weeks.

What is saturation?

Diminishing returns: each extra dollar earns less than the one before.

Why use POAS instead of ROAS?

POAS includes product cost, so it reflects profit.

How often should I review the allocation?

Monthly, with a quarterly deeper review.

Do I need spreadsheets to read my results?

No. Once tracking is live, the Open Tracked analytics shows spend, revenue, ROAS and profit, and you can ask Ari, the built-in AI assistant, questions about your own numbers in plain words. Ari's allowance depends on your analytics plan.

Is Open Tracked different from Open Track or Open Space Track?

No. Open Tracked is the official name of our server-side tracking platform, and the website is opentracked.io. Many people search for it as Open Track, OpenTrack or Open Space Track. All of them lead to the same product: server-side Google Tag Manager hosting, first-party analytics and a CRM pipeline.

Fix your tracking at the source

Open Tracked hosts your server-side Tag Manager, keeps first-party cookies alive and shows what each ad is really worth.

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The Open Tracked team

We build Open Tracked: server-side tracking hosting, analytics and the tools around them, for stores that spend on ads. Questions about this guide, or an idea for the next one?

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