Bassem Hoss, Head of Performance, Carat MENAThe digital media landscape has become a theatre of efficiency. We are constantly chasing lower cost per acquisition (CPA) and higher return on ad spend (ROAS). In the performance marketing trenches, the gospel is simple: do more, spend less. We find ourselves asking a far more complex question: are we merely efficiently digging ourselves a shallow grave, or are we truly driving long-term effectiveness?
The truth is, efficiency – the act of doing things cheaper – has become dangerously confused with effectiveness – the act of doing things that matter.
In recent years, the industry’s obsession with the immediate conversion has led to an over-reliance on the low hanging fruit. Our sophisticated algorithms are masters at identifying users already on the path to purchase. We excel at retargeting, dynamic creative optimisation, and leveraging lower-funnel tactics to shave a few cents off the final cost. This generates fantastic end-of-quarter spreadsheets, showcasing exemplary CPAs and ROAS figures. But here is the critical pivot: Is this marketing that grows a business, or is it merely brilliant sales enablement?
We have, inadvertently, ceded control of growth by prioritising the short-term transactional win. A classic example is the aggressive application of budget toward the final click, often neglecting the crucial, formative media exposures that built brand affinity in the first place. The lower-funnel efficiency we champion is frequently a measure of our ability to claim credit for a sale that would have occurred anyway. In one instance, a deep dive into campaign performance revealed that a significant portion of ‘efficient’ revenue was coming from loyal, returning customers who were consistently served an ad only days before a habitual repurchase. The media was not an accelerator of demand; it was a toll booth on the demand already created by the brand.
“We must use data not just to target a known audience, but to forecast and cultivate a new one.”
This is where a performance reset is urgently needed. True digital performance is not solely a measure of cost; it is a measure of sustainable value creation. Effectiveness is about smarter data connections that move us beyond the simplistic last-click metric.
The key to this shift lies in re-architecting how we define and measure success. Instead of celebrating the campaign with the lowest CPA, we must champion the campaign that demonstrates an increase in incremental lifetime value (LTV). This requires a holistic view that acknowledges the entire customer journey, linking upper funnel media (like video or high-impact display) with final conversion, and then connecting that new customer cohort’s behaviour to their long-term value to the business.
Consider a leading e-commerce player. Their previous media model was ruthlessly efficient on a last-click basis, driving immediate sales. When they shifted to a model that measured the net new demand generated by their brand-building media efforts and linked it to a customer retention projection, even if the initial CPA was higher, they saw a notable increase in the total value of their average customer over 12 months. The short-term efficiency was sacrificed for long-term effectiveness.
To achieve this, performance teams must break down the traditional silos between brand and performance media. We must use data not just to target a known audience, but to forecast and cultivate a new one.
Smarter data stacks: The evolution of data clean rooms and sophisticated first-party data strategies allows us to understand the quality of the acquisition, not just the cost. We can model the probability of a customer generating repeat purchases based on the specific media mix that first introduced them to the brand.
Incrementality testing: We must move away from retrospective reporting and embrace rigorous, always-on testing. Hold-out groups, geo-testing and media mix modelling are no longer advanced; they are foundational. They provide the empirical proof that our media investment is generating sales that would not have happened otherwise, effectively separating our legitimate contribution from mere attribution credit.
The next era of digital performance will not be won by the agency that can drive the cheapest click, but by the partner that can demonstrate the highest quality, most valuable customer acquisition. As industry leaders, our challenge is to educate our clients and ourselves that sometimes, the most effective path forward is to accept a higher upfront cost in exchange for a significantly larger and more sustainable future return. We must stop chasing a transient metric of efficiency and begin to focus on the enduring principle of effectiveness. This is the performance reset, a vital recalibration for sustained growth in the digital age.
By Bassem Hoss, Head of Performance, Carat MENA
