You are probably scaling the wrong signals
Most ecommerce brands optimize against metrics that platforms reward, not signals that reflect the business.
Sophia Båge · Business Signals · 6 min read
Every ecommerce team we meet has data. Most of them have too much of it. Almost none of them have signals that map cleanly to business outcomes.
The signal a platform rewards is not the signal the business needs
Ad platforms optimize against the events you send them. Send them weak proxies for value, and they will scale weak proxies for value — efficiently.
Three signs you are optimizing on the wrong things
- ROAS is up, contribution margin is flat or down.
- Top-converting SKUs are low-margin or high-return.
- Spend is growing faster than gross profit.
If the signals are wrong, everything you scale will be wrong.
The fix is not more reporting. It is re-anchoring on the inputs that actually drive the business.
About the author
Sophia Båge
Co-Founder, Untangle Collective
Sophia Båge is Co-Founder of Untangle Collective. She works with ecommerce leaders to reconnect performance marketing with profitable growth — identifying where revenue and margin become disconnected, and what should scale instead.
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