Solved: Low ROAS on Facebook/Instagram Ads for Online Store

Hi there,

Happy to give you some initial thoughts on what might be going on with your ads and store based on what you've described. It sounds like you're in a really common spot, especially when you're bootstrapping and doing everything yourselves – totally understandable why you feel like you're burning through budget without results.

Getting clicks but very few sales is honestly one of teh most frequent problems we see, and it almost always boils down to one of two main things, or a bit of both: either you're not getting the right kind of traffic to your website, or the website itself isn't doing a good enough job of convincing those visitors to buy once they land there.

Let's look at the website side first, as that's often the biggest lever you have control over immediately, and it impacts *everything* downstream. If your site isn't converting, even teh most perfect traffic in the world won't turn into sales, and you'll just keep spending money getting people there for nothing.

Your website is crucial for turning clicks into customers...

You mentioned you thought your website was okay, but sometimes what looks okay to you when you know your products inside out might not quite hit the mark for a brand new visitor who's never seen your stuff before. From what we've seen with other eCommerce stores, particularly ones selling things that are visual or have a specific ethos like 'sustainable pet stuff', there are a few common pitfalls that absolutely kill conversion rates:

Firstly, trust. This is huge, especially for a new online store. People need to feel comfortable putting their credit card details in. Does your site clearly show reviews or testimonials? Are there links to social profiles (if they're active)? How easy is it for someone to contact you? Do you have trust badges or mentions of secure checkout? Anything that makes the site look less than professional or slightly 'off' can make someone bounce immediately, even if they liked the product idea. When we worked with an eCommerce client selling cleaning products (got that campaign to a 633% return), making sure their site looked solid and trustworthy was a key step.

Then there's the product presentation. For something like sustainable pet products, people likely care about the quality, the materials, and what makes them different. Are your product photos really showcasing this? Blurry photos, or ones that don't show the product properly or in use, are a big no-no. Do you have clear, persuasive product descriptions that highlight the sustainable aspect and the benefits to the pet and owner? No descriptions or generic ones won't cut it. People can't touch and feel products online, so the photos and descriptions have to do all the work. Maybe even a quick video showing off the product or how it's made could help, especially for something handcrafted or unique.

Website speed and ease of navigation also play a part. If the site is slow to load or feels cluttered, people get frustrated and leave. It sounds simple, but it's a common killer.

Basically, if your site doesn't immediately look trustworthy, clearly present the products in an appealing way, and make it easy to find information and buy, visitors will just leave. Your 0.6x ROAS suggests a huge number of people arriving but very few completing the purchase, which points a strong finger at the website experience.

Getting the right people to your site...

Okay, assuming you start tackling some of those website points, let's think about the traffic quality. You mentioned targeting dog and cat owners by interest. That's a reasonable starting point, but on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, interest targeting can be quite broad. You might be reaching people who *like* pictures of dogs and cats, but aren't actually in the market to buy sustainable pet products right now.

This is a key difference between platforms. Someone searching on Google for "eco-friendly cat litter" or "organic dog treats UK" has high purchase intent – they are actively looking for a solution. Social media is more about putting your product in front of people who *might* be interested, even if they weren't looking. It's often harder to convert this colder audience directly into a first-time purchase compared to someone who is actively searching.

For sustainable pet products, maybe you need to go deeper with the targeting. Are there specific interests around sustainability? Specific types of pet ownership (e.g., people interested in pet health, organic pet food, specific breeds where owners tend to be more discerning)? Are there lookalike audiences you could build based on your existing (albeit few) customers or website visitors? It requires a lot of testing to narrow down teh audience that is most likely to convert.

Sometimes, the issue isn't just broad targeting but also the ad creative itself. Does your ad copy and imagery clearly communicate what you sell (sustainable pet products) and who it's for? Is it compelling enough to make teh *right* person click? If you're getting lots of clicks but low conversion, it *could* be that your ads are interesting generally, but aren't pre-qualifying people enough to ensure only those genuinely interested in *buying sustainable pet products* are clicking. For instance, ads just showing cute pets might get clicks from anyone, but ads showing the *sustainable* aspect or teh *product itself* in use might attract a more relevant clicker.

Split testing creative and targeting is honestly teh backbone of optimising performance. You can't just set one thing up and expect it to work perfectly. You need to be constantly testing different ad images, headlines, copy variations, calls to action, and different audience segments against each other to see what resonates best and brings in actual sales, not just clicks.

Putting it together: Where to focus

Based on the typical flow (traffic -> website -> purchase) and your results (clicks but no sales), my strong suspicion would be that the website is the most likely bottleneck right now. You can send a million perfect visitors, but if the site isn't right, they won't buy. You can also have a perfect site, but if you're sending completely irrelevant traffic, they won't buy either. Usually, it's a combination, but fix the site first as it sets the foundation.

Here’s an overview of where I'd recommend focusing your energy next:

Focusing on improving that conversion rate on your site is usually the quickest way to make your existing ad spend more efficient. Even a small increase in conversion rate can significantly improve your ROAS. Once the site is solid, then you can refine the targeting and creative more effectively, knowing that the traffic you send has a fighting chance of actually turning into a customer.

It's also worth noting that eCommerce, especially starting out and with a specific niche like sustainable products, can take time and persistent testing to become profitable with ads. It's not uncommon to see ROAS below 1x initially while you figure out what works. That campaign getting 1000% ROAS for a subscription box client took time to build up. The key is having a systematic process for testing and identifying where the problems are in your funnel (ad -> click -> landing page -> product page -> add to cart -> checkout).

Trying to do all this yourself while also managing the rest of the business is incredibly tough. Diagnosing exactly where the drop-off is happening (is it teh landing page, teh product page, teh checkout?) and setting up structured tests for ads and audiences takes a lot of specific expertise and time.

Considering expert help...

You mentioned thinking about professional help, which is often a sensible step when you're stuck and burning budget. Trying to figure out the 'secret trick' isn't really it; it's more about having a structured approach to testing and optimisation that someone with experience in running lots of campaigns across different products and platforms will have built up. They can often diagnose issues faster because they've seen them before, and they know which tests are most likely to yield results.

When you're looking for help, definitely look for someone who doesn't just promise the world or focus only on vanity metrics like clicks or impressions. A good partner will want to understand your business model deeply, who your ideal customer really is, and they will focus on the metrics that matter for your bottom line – sales and return on ad spend, or perhaps cost per acquisition (CPA) if you have a good handle on your customer lifetime value.

They should be asking you lots of questions about your customers, your product, and critically, they should be looking at your website and your existing campaign data to form their strategy. If they jump straight to "give us money and we'll scale you overnight" without wanting to understand the fundamentals or diagnose why your current efforts aren't working, be wary.

Finding someone who has experience specifically with eCommerce, or ideally, niche products, and can talk you through their process for improving conversion rates *and* traffic quality is key. It's not just about ad spend, it's about making every step of teh customer journey work.

Sorting through all this can be complex, especially when you're new to it. If you'd find it helpful to talk through your specific situation in more detail and get some pointers tailored to your store, we'd be happy to schedule a free consultation. It gives us a chance to properly look at your setup and give you some more concrete, actionable feedback without any commitment.

Hope this gives you a clearer picture of where things might be going wrong and what steps you could take next.

Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh