Case study
A
Auréa Paris
Jewelry & accessories·Shopify

Measure real Instagram profitability with POAS

From a flattering Instagram ROAS of 4.2 but a real POAS of 0.8 to a profit-driven budget reallocation strategy.

ROAS 4.2 / POAS 0.8
Gap revealed
+47%
Monthly profit
-62%
Unprofitable spend
4 months
Project duration

Context

Auréa Paris is a French premium fashion jewelry brand launched in 2020. The catalog has about 120 SKUs: necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets in gold plate and 925 silver. The average order value is 85 euros and the brand sells mainly on its Shopify store and its Instagram shop.

The marketing team invests heavily in Instagram advertising (Meta Ads with Instagram Feed, Stories, Reels and Shopping placements). Monthly budget reaches 18,000 euros and is the main source of traffic and sales.

The challenge

Instagram ROAS reported by Meta Ads Manager is 4.2, a seemingly excellent level for jewelry. Yet monthly net margin stagnates at 6% of revenue, a low level for the sector which should be around 15-20%.

The founder suspects Meta's ROAS overstates real campaign impact. On one hand, Meta attribution includes assisted sales that would have happened anyway (organic Instagram traffic, word of mouth, emails). On the other hand, gross margin varies hugely between products: statement rings have 72% margin, simple bracelets only 38%. Campaigns pushing volume can actually destroy margin.

Without reliable POAS (Profit on Ad Spend) calculation, it's impossible to know which campaigns are truly profitable.

The Fullmetrix solution

Auréa connects Shopify to Fullmetrix and imports precise COGS for each SKU. Stripe fees, gift wrapping and returns are also configured. The Meta Ads account is connected to pull campaign spend.

Within 72 hours, the POAS report reveals the truth: average POAS on Instagram campaigns is only 0.8, far below Meta's reported ROAS of 4.2. Three flagship campaigns (representing 52% of monthly budget) have a POAS below 0.6, meaning they lose money for the brand despite good apparent ROAS.

The team reallocates budget: cuts the 3 unprofitable campaigns, reinforces the 2 campaigns targeting high-margin products (POAS 2.1 and 2.6), and creates a new campaign dedicated solely to statement rings with a target POAS of 1.8 minimum.

The results

Monthly profit +47%

Monthly net profit goes from 11,200 euros to 16,500 euros in 4 months thanks to budget reallocation based on real POAS rather than Meta ROAS.

Unprofitable spend -62%

The 3 campaigns identified as loss-making (POAS below 0.6) are cut, immediately saving 9,400 euros per month in pure wasted spend.

High-margin product focus

New campaigns dedicated to statement rings (72% margin) generate an average POAS of 2.3, nearly 3x higher than old generalist campaigns.

Daily POAS decisions

The marketing team now steers Meta Ads by looking at Fullmetrix POAS first and Meta ROAS second, avoiding false positives and biased decisions.

« Meta was telling us we had 4.2 ROAS, we thought we were crushing it. In reality, we were losing money on half our campaigns due to variable margins. Fullmetrix POAS changed everything. Today it's our number one metric. »

M
Marion K.
Founder, Auréa Paris

This case study is an illustrative example based on results observed with our users. Numbers are realistic but anonymized.

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