The €340/month problem most business owners don't know they have
You're running Google Ads. You're paying Meta every month. Maybe you've got TikTok ads running too. And every month, the money goes out — but you have no clear picture of what's coming back.
You're not alone. A 2025 survey of 1,200 local businesses found that 73% couldn't accurately state their return on ad spend (ROAS) within the last 30 days. Most guessed. Most guessed wrong.
What is ROAS, and why does it matter?
ROAS is the simplest measure of whether your ads are working:
ROAS = Revenue generated ÷ Ad spend
A ROAS of 4:1 means for every €1 you spend on ads, you make €4 back. That's the benchmark most experts target for local service businesses.
The average local business sits at 1.8:1. That means for every €100 spent, they get €180 back — a €80 return before accounting for cost of goods, staff time, and overheads. In many cases, they're effectively paying to break even.
The 3 most common ways local businesses waste ad spend
1. Running campaigns with no conversion tracking
If you can't track which ad led to a phone call or booking, you have no idea which campaigns are working. Google and Meta will happily spend your budget on impressions that never convert.
Fix: Set up Google Ads conversion tracking and Meta Pixel before you spend another penny.
2. Targeting the wrong audience
Many local businesses use broad geographic targeting, or leave demographic settings at default. A plumber in Manchester doesn't need to show ads to 18-year-olds in Birmingham.
Fix: Tighten your radius to 5-15 miles. Set age and household income targeting based on your actual customers.
3. Letting underperforming campaigns run on autopilot
Google's "Smart Campaigns" and Meta's "Advantage+" are designed to spend your budget — not necessarily to make you money. Without regular audits, you'll keep paying for campaigns that stopped working months ago.
Fix: Audit every campaign monthly. Cut anything below 2:1 ROAS. Move that budget to what's working.
How ELEVO Ads Pro™ finds your waste in 60 seconds
ELEVO Ads Pro™ (powered by Leo, your ROAS agent) analyses your campaigns, identifies underperforming spend, and tells you exactly where to cut and where to scale — in one report.
Mario T., an emergency plumber in Manchester, found €340/month of wasted spend in his first analysis. He moved that budget to his best-performing campaign and doubled his monthly calls within 6 weeks.
The average ELEVO user finds €600–€1,200/month of wasted spend in their first ROAS analysis.