"What's a good ROAS?" is one of the most common questions we hear from Australian businesses running Google Ads or Meta Ads. The answer isn't a single number - it depends on your industry, margins, business model, and growth stage. But there are clear benchmarks you can use to evaluate performance.
What Is ROAS?
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) measures how much revenue you generate for every dollar spent on advertising.
ROAS = Revenue ÷ Ad Spend
A ROAS of 4.0 means you generate $4 in revenue for every $1 spent on ads. Sounds great - but is it actually profitable? That depends entirely on your margins.
ROAS vs ROI: The Critical Difference
ROAS measures revenue, not profit. If your ROAS is 4.0 but your profit margin is 20%, your actual ROI calculation looks like this:
- Revenue per $1 ad spend: $4.00
- Profit per $1 ad spend: $0.80 (20% margin)
- Actual ROI: -$0.20 per $1 spent (because you need to account for ad spend, management fees, and other costs)
This is why a "good" ROAS varies dramatically by industry - a business with 60% margins needs a much lower ROAS to be profitable than a business with 15% margins.
ROAS Benchmarks by Industry (Australia 2026)
E-commerce & Retail
- Average ROAS: 4.0-6.0x
- Good ROAS: 6.0-8.0x
- Excellent ROAS: 8.0x+
- Typical margins: 30-50%, so breakeven ROAS is approximately 2.0-3.3x
Professional Services (Lawyers, Accountants, Consultants)
- Average ROAS: 5.0-8.0x
- Good ROAS: 8.0-15.0x
- Excellent ROAS: 15.0x+
- High margins (60-80%) and high lifetime value make even expensive CPCs ($20-$65) profitable
Healthcare (Dentists, Med Spas, Specialists)
- Average ROAS: 6.0-10.0x
- Good ROAS: 10.0-15.0x
- Excellent ROAS: 15.0x+
- Patient lifetime value ($3,000-$10,000+) means high ROAS is achievable even with $8-$25 CPCs
- See our dental marketing and med spa marketing guides
Home Services (Plumbers, Electricians, HVAC, Roofing)
- Average ROAS: 3.0-5.0x
- Good ROAS: 5.0-8.0x
- Excellent ROAS: 8.0x+
- Variable margins (emergency jobs are higher margin); focus ROAS measurement on high-value jobs, not small repairs
- Industry guides: plumber marketing, electrician marketing
Real Estate
- Average ROAS: 8.0-15.0x
- Good ROAS: 15.0-25.0x
- Excellent ROAS: 25.0x+
- Commission-based revenue ($10K-$50K+ per sale) makes even high CPCs extremely profitable
- See our luxury real estate marketing guide
SaaS & Technology
- Average ROAS: 3.0-5.0x (first-month revenue only)
- Good ROAS: 5.0-8.0x
- Key metric: LTV:CAC ratio of 3:1 is the gold standard
- Subscription models mean first-month ROAS understates true value - measure LTV-based ROAS
- See our SaaS marketing guide
ROAS Benchmarks by Channel
Google Search Ads
- Average ROAS: 4.0-6.0x
- Highest ROAS channel due to high purchase intent
- Tips: improve Quality Score to lower CPCs and boost ROAS
Google Shopping Ads
- Average ROAS: 5.0-8.0x
- Highest ROAS for e-commerce - visual format drives qualified clicks
Facebook/Instagram Ads
- Average ROAS: 3.0-5.0x
- Lower intent than search but broader reach; best for awareness + retargeting
- Read our Facebook targeting strategies
YouTube Ads
- Average ROAS: 2.0-4.0x
- Best for brand awareness and consideration; harder to attribute direct conversions
LinkedIn Ads
- Average ROAS: 2.0-4.0x (but deal values are much higher for B2B)
- CPCs are highest ($8-$15) but audience precision offsets cost for high-value B2B sales
Why Your ROAS Might Be Misleading
- Attribution window - Google defaults to 30-day click attribution. Changing this to 7 days or 90 days dramatically changes reported ROAS
- Cross-channel influence - a user might click a Facebook ad, then Google your brand name and convert via search. Google Ads gets the credit, Facebook gets nothing
- New vs returning customers - a 3.0x ROAS on new customers is excellent; a 3.0x ROAS on existing customers (who would have bought anyway) is wasteful
- Revenue vs profit - a 10.0x ROAS on a 10% margin product is barely profitable after accounting for all costs
How to Improve Your ROAS
- Fix your landing pages - a better landing page increases conversion rate, which directly increases ROAS
- Tighten targeting - eliminate wasted spend on irrelevant audiences and keywords
- Increase average order value - upsells and bundles boost revenue per conversion without increasing ad spend
- Improve Quality Score - lower CPCs mean more clicks for the same budget
- Retarget intelligently - remarketing typically delivers 2-3x higher ROAS than prospecting
The Bottom Line
A "good" ROAS depends on your margins, lifetime value, and business model. E-commerce brands should target 4-6x. Service businesses with high lifetime value should target 8-15x. But ROAS alone doesn't tell the full story - always consider profit margins, attribution models, and the mix of new vs returning customers.
Want to know what ROAS you should be targeting? Book a free strategy session and we'll calculate your breakeven ROAS, set realistic targets, and show you how to improve performance across every channel.
