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What Is ROAS, and Why It’s the Only Ad Metric That Matters

If you run paid ads, ROAS is the number that matters most — and the one too many businesses ignore. Here is what it means, why it beats clicks and impressions, and how we use it to scale London campaigns profitably.

What ROAS actually is

ROAS stands for return on ad spend. It is simply the revenue you make divided by what you spent on ads. A 6× ROAS means every 1 spent returned 6 in revenue. It is the cleanest measure of whether your advertising is actually working.

Why ROAS beats clicks and impressions

  • Clicks do not pay the bills. Plenty of campaigns get cheap clicks that never buy. ROAS ties spend directly to revenue.
  • It keeps you honest. A campaign can look busy and still lose money. ROAS shows the truth.
  • It guides scaling. Once a campaign runs at a healthy ROAS, you know you can confidently spend more.

What a good ROAS looks like

It depends entirely on your margins. A business with high margins can thrive at a 3× ROAS; a low-margin retailer might need 6× or more to profit. The right target is the one that makes you money after costs — which is why we set it per client, not by a rule of thumb.

How we push ROAS up

  • Tight targeting — reaching buyers, not browsers.
  • Better creative — the single biggest lever in modern paid social.
  • Dedicated landing pages — sending traffic to pages built to convert, not your homepage.
  • Clean tracking — so we optimise on real conversions, not guesses.
  • Relentless testing — cutting losers fast and scaling winners.

The takeaway

If your agency reports on clicks and impressions rather than ROAS and cost per lead, you cannot tell whether your money is working. We report on the numbers that matter — and optimise everything around your return.

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SEO vs Paid Ads: Which Is Right for You?

SEO or paid ads? It is one of the most common questions London businesses ask when they start marketing seriously. The truth is they do different jobs — and the best programmes usually use both. Here is how to think about it.

Paid ads: fast, controllable, you pay per click

Google and Meta ads put you in front of customers immediately. You can switch them on today and have leads this week. You control the budget, the targeting and the message — but the moment you stop paying, the traffic stops.

  • Best for: fast results, testing demand, scaling what works, seasonal pushes.
  • Strengths: speed, control, precise targeting, measurable ROAS.
  • Trade-off: you pay for every click, and costs rise as you scale.

SEO: slower to build, compounds over time

SEO earns you rankings that bring traffic without paying per click. It takes months to build, but the results compound — and once you rank, the cost per lead keeps falling. It is the closest thing to an owned, long-term channel.

  • Best for: long-term growth, lowering cost per lead, building authority.
  • Strengths: compounding returns, trust, traffic you do not rent.
  • Trade-off: takes 3 to 6 months to gain momentum.

The smart answer: both, in sequence

For most London businesses the right move is to start paid ads for immediate leads while SEO builds in the background. Over time, as organic rankings grow, you can lean less on paid — or scale paid profitably with the data SEO gives you. They feed each other: paid shows you which keywords convert, SEO makes those keywords cheaper to win.

How we decide with clients

We start with your goals, margins and timeline — not a fixed playbook. Need leads now? Paid leads. Building a durable channel? SEO. Most clients run both, weighted to whatever returns the most for them right now, and we shift the mix as the numbers come in.

The takeaway

It is rarely SEO versus paid — it is how to combine them for the best return. Tell us your goals and we will recommend the mix that makes you the most money, honestly.

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How Much Does Digital Marketing Cost?

It is the first question almost every London business asks: how much should digital marketing cost? The honest answer is that it depends on your goals, your market and your ad budget. But here is a clear, no-nonsense guide to what London businesses really pay in 2026.

Typical London pricing

  • Single channel — from around 750 to 1,500 per month. SEO, paid ads, social or email, run properly by a senior specialist.
  • Full-service — from around 2,000 to 6,000+ per month. Multiple channels run as one growth engine, plus creative and reporting.
  • Ad spend is separate. What you pay the platforms (Google, Meta) sits on top of the management fee — and should always be set by what is profitable, not a fixed number.

A one-off audit and strategy is a sensible first step if you want a clear plan before committing to a retainer.

What actually drives the price

  • Goals and competitiveness — dominating a crowded London market costs more than steady local growth.
  • Number of channels — one channel done well is very different to a full-funnel programme.
  • Creative needs — content, design and video add cost but often lift results the most.

Why cheap marketing is usually expensive

You will see agencies offering everything for a few hundred a month. The reality is that real marketing is senior time and real ad budget. Cheap retainers usually mean junior staff, set-and-forget campaigns and wasted spend — which costs far more than doing it properly.

What you should expect for your money

Whatever you pay, you should get a clear strategy up front, senior people doing the work, and transparent monthly reporting tied to leads, sales and return — not impressions. If an agency cannot show you what every pound returns, that is a red flag.

The bottom line

For most London businesses, somewhere between 750 and 3,000 a month buys meaningful, compounding growth when it is spent well. The right number is the smallest engagement that can move your numbers — and a good agency will tell you honestly what that is.

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