5 Proven Strategies to Increase Your ROAS in 2025

The world of Google Ads is changing rapidly. With the end of third-party cookies and the rise of AI-powered campaigns, you need to adapt your strategy to stay competitive. In this guide, we share the proven strategies we use at Saerens Advertising to maximize ROAS.

The 2025 Benchmark: What is a Good ROAS?

Before diving into strategies, you need to know where you stand. According to recent data, the average ROAS for Google Ads in 2025 is:

• Median ROAS: 3.52:1 (€3.52 revenue per €1 ad spend)
• Strong performance: 4:1 or higher
• Break-even ROAS: 2:1 (at 50% profit margin)

Google Ads outperforms Facebook (2.21:1) and LinkedIn (2.89:1). With the right approach, you can significantly exceed this benchmark.

1. First-Party Data: Your New Gold Mine

With third-party cookies disappearing, first-party data has become the primary competitive differentiator. This is data you collect directly from your customers, with their consent.

What should you collect?

• Email addresses via lead magnets, newsletters, and accounts
• Purchase history linked to customer IDs
• Website behavior via enhanced conversions
• CRM data such as customer lifetime value

How to use it?

Upload your CRM lists (minimum 1,000 users for Search, 100 for Display) to build lookalike audiences and retarget high-value customers through Customer Match. Brands using first-party data for retargeting achieve up to twice as many orders per euro invested.

With Enhanced Conversions, you hash customer data to match ad clicks, even without cookies. This improves your tracking accuracy and gives Smart Bidding better signals.

2. Using Smart Bidding Optimally

Google's AI-powered Smart Bidding strategies optimize in real-time at auction level. You need to choose the right strategy:

Strategy	When to use
Target ROAS	When you know what return you need
Target CPA	For lead generation with fixed cost per lead
Maximize Conversion Value	When customers have different values
Maximize Conversions	To generate volume within budget

Pro tip: Use Smart Bidding Exploration. This allocates 20% of your budget to new audiences and placements while keeping 80% on target. Campaigns with Exploration see an average of 18% more conversions.

3. Implementing Value-Based Bidding

Traditional ROAS treats all revenue equally. But a sale of €100 with 60% margin is much more useful than €100 with 20% margin. Value-based bidding solves this.

How to implement it:

1. Assign conversion values to each action in Google Ads
2. Use Target ROAS or Maximize Conversion Value
3. Prioritize campaigns/products based on lifetime value

A case study shows that reorientation toward LTV-optimized products increased annual revenue by €2.3 million while reducing ad spend by 18%.

4. Setting Up Performance Max Correctly

Performance Max can work great, but only with the right setup. New 2025 updates give you more control:

• Search Themes: Add 8-12 keyword themes to guide the algorithm
• Campaign-Level Negative Keywords: Block competitors, job searches, and free queries
• Asset Group Testing: Test at asset group level (not campaign level) to avoid data starvation

With these combined controls, you have 30-40% more control over your Search budget allocation.

5. Avoid the GA4 Attribution Trap

This is a common mistake: GA4 introduces a delay of 6-18 hours in conversion data. This cripples Smart Bidding.

The fix: use Google Ads conversion tracking directly instead of GA4 alone. This delivers 15-20% better performance compared to GA4-only tracking.

Action Plan: Start Today

Here is your checklist to increase ROAS:

• Enable Enhanced Conversions with first-party data hashing
• Switch from Target CPA to Target ROAS for 14% more conversion value
• Build Customer Match lists from your CRM
• Add negative keywords to Performance Max campaigns
• Test Smart Bidding Exploration
• Assign conversion values to all important actions
• Use Google Ads conversion tracking (not just GA4)

Need Help with Your Google Ads?

At Saerens Advertising, we help e-commerce and lead generation businesses maximize their ROAS with data-driven strategies. We combine first-party data, value-based bidding, and advanced campaign structures to deliver results.

Want to know how your account is performing? Request a free audit and discover where you are leaving opportunities on the table.