This content was published in the No Best Practices newsletter on 1.16.2022.

Cody Plofker dropped this question on Twitter at the end of December, and it provoked a lot of interesting discussion. After reading everyones’ responses I have a lot of thoughts–too many for Twitter–so I thought I would sum them up here.
Here is the text of the tweet, in case the image above doesn’t render for you:
Hypothetically, which is the better ad?
A: $58k spent – 1.45 ROAS, $70 CPA – 833 Purchases
B: $25k spent – 2.0 ROAS – $50 CPA – 470 Purchases
(Poll to select A or B)
BTW, Cody is the Director of eCom at Jones Road Beauty and publishes an awesome newsletter from the media buyer/operator POV that you should subscribe to.
This question was described as “an ink blot test for marketers”, and I agree. Based on the responses, there were roughly two schools of thought that I’ll summarize here.
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