How do you achieve 4x ROAS and more while maintaining the scale after Day 30? 
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is the primary KPI that ties paid user acquisition directly to revenue.   

In this guide, learn how to increase ROAS with proven strategies to optimize your ad spend, driving more revenue and scale.  

How to Calculate ROAS?

// We’re skipping the ROAS basics (you can find them in our ROAS glossary), but here’s a 10-second rundown.

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) measures how much revenue your ads generate compared to what you spend. Think of it as a quick scorecard: for every $1000 spent, how much do you get back? 

ROAS Formula

Example: Spend $1000, earn $3000 → ROAS = 3x.

Breakeven ROAS

Breakeven ROAS tells you the minimum ROAS needed to cover your ad spend without losing money. It accounts for product costs, platform fees, and operating margins. 

If your campaign’s ROAS is above breakeven, you’re in profit. Below it? You’re losing money. Know your breakeven point before scaling. High ROAS doesn’t mean profitability if your costs make the campaign break even or worse.

Best Strategies to Increase ROAS 

1. Precise Targeting   

At its core, ad campaigns are about showing the right ad to the right player. Paid user acquisition gives you this ability to precisely target your audiences.

When targeting works, your ads reach high-intent users most likely to engage, increasing ROAS without wasted spend. 

Machine learning analyzes large datasets of historical and live campaign data to find matches and automatically improve ad campaign performance. 

Gaining the edge over standard targeting

To achieve your target ROAS, you need to identify users who bring in the most revenue. 

But how do you define a high-value user for your game/app? Even within your app, different users behave differently based on the GEO, preferences, or demographics.   

For example, in one region, top players may spend more time progressing through levels within the game, while in the US, valuable users may start making in-app purchases earlier. 

Data backs this, as GEO leads the targeting criterion for mobile app user acquisition. User-based targeting helps identify these behavioral patterns to find the crème de la crème. 

For example, adjoe offers advanced User-Based Targeting,a targeting layer on top of your regular campaigns. Campaigns applying UMT targeting achieve significantly higher retention and up to 4× higher target ROAS.

2. Exclusive Reach: High-quality Traffic

Why does premium inventory and exclusive reach matter for mobile games?

Research shows $63bn in digital ad spend is wasted globally due to bot traffic and ad fraud. Nearly 1 in 4 ad clicks on mainstream apps like TikTok are fraudulent, showing signs of non-human or invalid activity. 

Tech giants like Google, Meta, and TikTok ads aren’t incentivized to solve the “bot” problem, notes the report.  

There’s overlapping audiences, meaning most advertisers end up competing for the same users.

To reach your target ROAS, you need access to a direct, exclusive inventory of major apps that offer incremental growth.

Premium inventory means your ads run inside trusted publisher apps with unique, engaged audiences. 

Exclusive traffic offers users aren’t recycled across every ad network; your ads reach players you wouldn’t access through standard channels. 

Here’s how to read that:

• less exposure to invalid traffic.
• less overlap with your existing channels.
• more control over where your ads appear.

adjoe Playtime inventory comes through direct integrations into established premium apps with loyal user bases. 

With Playtime, users actively opt in, and they pay attention. This is very different from passive scrolling on mainstream platforms.    

The result isn’t just cleaner traffic. It’s incremental growth, and a user base that behaves more like players, not installs that lead to churn.

adjoe is the only rewarded ad network recognized for exclusive reach across all platforms, according to the Singular ROI Index 2026.

3. Focus on Lifetime Value 

It’s easy to optimize your ad campaigns for Day 1. It’s harder to build cohorts that hold on Day 7, Day 30, and more. 

Lifetime Value (LTV) shows the full journey of a user in your app, not just that first in-app purchase. It’s the revenue that builds over time through repeat purchases, upgrades, rewarded ad engagement, and event progression across levels or milestones. 

Apps that integrate loyalty programs are building reward mechanisms that boost app-open-rates. 

How is LTV and ROAS interlinked? 

You can’t truly optimize target ROAS without considering LTV, because ROAS is just an early snapshot, while LTV is the full movie.   

High-intent users (“whales”) drive disproportionate revenue, and LTV varies by genre, so your targets must reflect the app/ game type. Ignoring LTV is like assessing a game by the first minute of play; you’ll miss where the real value comes in.

From the case studies and partner insights, we see Playtime rewarded ads increasing ROAS and LTV at an impressive rate. 

Here’s why: to earn rewards, users must install the game and complete in-game actions. That immediately filters out low-intent players and reduces churn.

The ongoing “reward loop” encourages players to keep engaging, which improves long-term revenue, not just D1.

Playtime runs inside popular apps across fintech, loyalty, retail, and health, giving users meaningful rewards while strengthening retention and in-app spending. 

• early rewards → clean D1 signals.
• continued engagement → stronger D7 retention.
• sustained activity → D30 ROAS that doesn’t collapse.

LTV + ROAS in Action

Some ROAS results from adjoe Playtime campaigns:

• Hello Town: D30 ROAS increase by 70%
• Carnivore: D7 ROAS +20%, LTV +50% with 100k monthly installs.
• Unico Studio: Unlocks new UA channel, 30% higher ROAS. 

4. Campaign Optimization 

Any UA manager’s nightmare is watching ad costs rise and conversions decline. On the other hand, a campaign that delivers strong, longer-term ROAS is one you can confidently scale. 

We’ve already established that D1 ROAS doesn’t matter if users churn within days. Long-term ROAS is achieved with consistent campaign optimization. 

Best ad networks support this, offering UA experts who guide campaigns, from identifying high-performing inventory to securing exclusive placements and targeting the right cohorts.

For instance, when high-value ad spaces open and publishers run promotions, having guidance on where to spend your budget makes all the difference. Layer in rewarded campaigns, and you turn every session into a habit-loop that keeps engaged users interacting and spending. 

 Best ways to optimize ROAS in your ad campaigns 

• Creative optimization and A/B tests: Test different banners and videos with real users to see which designs drive installs, clicks, and long-term engagement.

• Align campaigns with seasonal peaks: Launch campaigns when user activity is highest to maximize installs.

• Promotions and ad placements: Take advantage of premium placements and publisher promotions, and invest your budget at the right moment to reach more high-intent users.

• Reduce overspend: Monitor campaigns closely, set daily caps, and adjust budgets to avoid wasting spend.

• Long-term engagement instead of short-term gains: Avoid short-term focus on D1 performance after campaign launch. Reward users consistently after install to keep them returning and build deeper event funnels.

• Attribution and tracking: Measure installs, clicks, and view-to-install rates to understand what’s driving real results and inform future campaigns. 

UA manager should look for when optimizing long-term ROAS?  

Questions to ask your growth manager

1. Are we optimizing for the right payback window (D7, D30, D90)?

2. Which creatives drive the highest IPM/ARPU/ROAS?

3. Are we shifting budget toward the sources and geos with the strongest cohort ROAS?

4. Which player/user segments monetize best, and are we scaling those lookalikes?

5. How are privacy changes limiting targeting?

6. Where do product issues (onboarding, difficulty curve, pricing, offers) cap ROAS growth?

End Note 

The next frontier of user acquisition belongs to brands investing in engagement quality and LTV, not just volume. Those who master it will see their ROAS multiply over the long-term, not only the first week.

For more insights on campaign optimization and UA strategies, explore the adjoe UA blog. If you’d like to discuss your specific business case, reach out to the adjoe growth team.

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