How to set your POAS target
Nicklas Segatz Mortensen · Growth Hacker · Fractional CMO · Meta Ads Nerd · 8 July 2026 · 6 min.
01Start at break-even, not at a guess
Your POAS target is built on contribution margin. A POAS of 1 means the ads pay for themselves at the gross level — but the fixed costs (payroll, rent, software) still aren't covered. So the target has to sit high enough that the contribution margin after ads also covers the fixed costs and leaves the bottom line you're aiming for.
Work it out concretely from your own P&L: what's the margin, what are the fixed costs for the period, and what bottom line is the ambition? Out of that falls the POAS level the account needs to hit — not an industry number, but your own.
Sådan virker det
ROAS ser hele omsætnings-stolpen. POAS regner kun det grønne med — det du faktisk tjener, når vareforbrug, fragt, gebyrer og annoncekroner er betalt.
02Order POAS vs. customer POAS
There are two POAS conversations. At the order level: does this order make money here and now? At the customer level: does this customer make money over their lifetime? If you have strong CLTV, you can deliberately run a lower POAS — even below 1 — on first purchases, because the repeat orders bring it home.
It's customer POAS that determines how aggressively you can scale. Without retention you're bound to be profitable on every order; with strong retention you can outbid the competition on acquisition and still make money over time.
03Make the target operational
A POAS target is only useful if the platforms can optimize toward it. That requires contribution margin to be sent in as the conversion value (e.g. via Profitmetrics) and differentiated by margin, so bidding chases profit rather than revenue. Otherwise the target is a report, not a steering mechanism.
Frequently asked questions
What's a good POAS target?+
There's no single number — it depends on your margin, fixed costs and growth ambition. Work it out from your own P&L: the target has to ensure the contribution margin after ads also covers the fixed costs and leaves the bottom line you want.
Can my POAS target be below 1?+
On first purchases, yes, if your CLTV is strong enough that repeat orders bring it home. Customer POAS over the lifetime is what has to turn a profit — not necessarily POAS on the individual first order.
Related terms
Glossary
What is POAS?
POAS (Profit on Ad Spend) is your gross profit divided by ad spend. Where ROAS measures revenue per ad euro, POAS measures what you actually keep — after cost of goods, shipping and fees.
Read the entry →Glossary
What is break-even ROAS?
Break-even ROAS is the ROAS at which contribution margin exactly covers the ad cost — neither loss nor gain. It's calculated as 1 divided by your margin.
Read the entry →Glossary
What is CLTV?
CLTV (Customer Lifetime Value) is the total gross profit an average customer contributes across their entire lifetime as a customer — from first purchase to last.
Read the entry →Glossary
What is Profitmetrics?
Profitmetrics is a tool that calculates the real profit (contribution margin) per order and sends it back to the ad platforms as the conversion value — so bidding can optimize for profit rather than revenue.
Read the entry →Profit Forge runs the entire setup against your POAS target — from tracking to bidding.
See Profit Forge →
Nicklas Segatz Mortensen
Growth Hacker · Fractional CMO · Meta Ads Nerd at Oaksmond
Growth hacker and fractional CMO with 10+ years' experience and hundreds of millions in managed ad spend behind him. Background from larger Danish and international scale-ups, and from the agency world.
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