Definition
Prospecting targets new audiences to acquire new customers. It typically has lower short-term ROAS but drives incremental growth.
How to use it
- Judge prospecting with longer windows and cohort outcomes (LTV, retention), not just short-window ROAS.
- Use creative testing to find message-market fit before scaling spend.
Measured as
Measure Prospecting with a fixed attribution window, conversion event, and spend basis before comparing campaigns or creative tests.
Operator takeaway
- Judge prospecting with longer windows and cohort outcomes (LTV, retention), not just short-window ROAS.
- Use creative testing to find message-market fit before scaling spend.
- Use Prospecting only inside a stable attribution rule, conversion definition, and time window so campaign comparisons stay honest.
- If performance changes, check whether the metric moved for a real business reason or because the measurement setup changed underneath you.
Next decision
- Read Paid ads measurement hub: ROAS, MER, marginal ROAS, and incrementality if the decision depends on interpretation, policy, or trade-offs beyond the raw formula.
- Decide which report owns Prospecting before comparing campaigns, channels, or creative tests.
Where to use this on MetricKit
Guides
- Paid ads measurement hub: ROAS, MER, marginal ROAS, and incrementality: A practical hub for paid ads measurement: connect ROAS to profit, use MER for top-down truth, watch marginal ROAS for scale, and validate incrementality with holdouts.
- Attribution vs incrementality: what to trust, when, and how to test: A practical guide to attribution vs incrementality: common attribution models, window pitfalls, how MER/marginal ROAS fit in, and how to run holdout/geo tests.
- Creative + landing page playbook: diagnose CTR/CVR, then set break-even targets: A practical playbook for improving paid ads performance: use CTR/CVR diagnosis, set break-even CTR/CVR/CPM targets from your economics, and fix the biggest lever first.