Target ROAS / ROI, When it comes to running ads on marketplaces like Shopee, Lazada, or social commerce platforms like TikTok Ads, Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) or ROI is a fundamental feature. While many beginners might prefer to let the system automate everything, understanding how to manually optimize Target ROAS can be the key to unlocking superior performance.
Many of my followers and listeners have asked for insights on Target ROAS specifically for e-commerce platforms, moving beyond just Google Ads. Today, I will share the principles of adjusting ROAS to help you maximize ecommerce ROI effectively.
How to Optimize Target ROAS / ROI for Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Ads to Maximize Results
Low Budget? Try Adjusting Target ROAS / ROI Higher Than Usual
If you are working with a limited budget—perhaps just a few hundred baht per campaign or per product—my recommendation is to set your Target ROAS / ROI higher than the average suggestion.
Why? When you set a high target, the system becomes more selective. It will try to find the “right” customers—those with a high purchase intent who are likely to generate the return you specified. Consequently, the system will bid at a lower Cost Per Click (CPC).
This might cause your ads to show less frequently, and you might not even spend your full daily budget. However, since your budget is small to begin with, ensuring that every baht spent yields the highest possible return is more important than sheer volume.
Strategy: Check if your daily budget is being spent. If not, slowly adjust your Target ROAS / ROI upwards (start with +20% from the average) to squeeze the most value out of your limited funds.
Budget Not Spending? Lower Target ROAS / ROI to Increase Delivery
On the flip side, if you have a decent budget but the ads simply aren’t spending it (even though the budget isn’t huge), you are missing out on potential visibility.
In this case, optimizing Target ROAS by lowering the target can help. Lowering the required return allows the system to bid higher (increasing CPC), which makes your products more competitive against other sellers. Your ad impressions will likely increase.
Warning: This will drain your budget faster—sometimes wiping out a daily budget in just half a day. You need to weigh the pros and cons:
- Pros: More visibility, higher chance to beat competitors.
- Cons: Lower ROAS/ROI and faster ad spend.
Recommendation: Try lowering the target by 20-30% at a time and monitor the results. Alternatively, instead of just lowering ROAS, consider adding more products to the campaign. Sometimes a specific product just has too much competition or a price point that makes a high ROAS difficult. Giving the system more products to choose from allows it to push the items with the best potential.
D-Day, Mid-Month, Pay Day: To Adjust or Not to Adjust?
Lately, platforms like TikTok Ads (e.g., Promotion Days settings) and Shopee Ads have introduced features to automatically optimize Target ROAS during major campaign days. They often suggest lowering your ROAS target.
The logic is simple: Competition is fierce during Double Days (e.g., 11.11, 12.12). Everyone is increasing budgets and bidding aggressively. To ensure your ads are seen above competitors, you often need to bid higher, which means accepting a slightly lower ROAS efficiency in exchange for massive volume.
However, just because the feature exists doesn’t mean you must use it. You might not need to lower your Target ROAS during campaigns if:
- You are not participating in the Double Day, Mid-Month, or Pay Day campaigns.
- Your sales don’t significantly spike on these days compared to normal days.
- Your daily budget is already fully spent on normal days, and you don’t plan to increase it.
- You sell “Necessity Goods” (items people buy when they need them, not because they are hoarding them during a sale).
If you fall into these categories, maintaining your standard settings is perfectly fine. Lowering your ROAS target when you don’t intend to compete aggressively might just result in inefficient spending.
Principles of Adjustment: Start at 20-40% and Wait 1 Week
These numbers—20-40% adjustment and a 1-week waiting period—come from my personal experience managing ads in Thailand.
- Why small steps? If you drastically increase Target ROAS, your ads might stop running entirely, killing your sales momentum. If you drastically decrease it, you might burn through cash with poor returns, causing your GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) to plummet. Incremental changes allow the system (and you) to adapt.
- Why 1 week? If you tweak settings every day, the algorithm never settles. You won’t know if a change in performance is due to your adjustment, the platform’s volatility, or just a random daily fluctuation. This is especially true during campaign periods.
Rule of thumb: After you optimize Target ROAS, give it 7 days to stabilize before evaluating the success.
Conclusion: Which Adjustment Method is Best?
Before you touch that dial, ask yourself: What is my objective?
Optimize Target ROAS is a powerful tool, but it is not a magic wand.
- If you want efficiency with a small budget -> Increase ROAS.
- If you want volume and speed -> Decrease ROAS.
- If your goal (e.g., brand awareness irrespective of sales) doesn’t align with ROAS targets, adjusting this metric won’t help.
Understanding your business goal is the first step to using these tools to truly maximize ecommerce ROI.
Get in touch with Digital Break Time for expert Digital Marketing services.
About the Author: A Digital Marketing Specialist based in Thailand, sharing insights on SEO, Marketplace Ads, and Content Marketing.
Follow Digital Break Time
Facebook, X, Line Official Account, Instagram, Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcast
Originally in Thai. Translated to English with the help of Gemini.
