Definition
Cohort ROAS is return on ad spend calculated for a cohort: a group of users acquired together, typically on the same day through the same campaign. Instead of asking what revenue arrived this week, it asks how much revenue the users from one specific batch of spend have produced so far.
How It Is Calculated
- Pick a cohort, for example everyone attributed to one campaign who installed in a given week.
- Add up the revenue those users have generated since install, up to the checkpoint you are reading.
- Divide that revenue by the spend on the cohort.
- Repeat at later checkpoints to build a curve. A cohort at 0.4 on day 7 and 0.9 on day 30 is on a visible path towards payback.
Why Teams Use It
Revenue from mobile users arrives over weeks and months, so a single blended figure hides which campaigns are working. Cohort ROAS lets you compare campaigns at the same age, spot slow starters that later pay back, and decide when spend has been recovered. It sits close to cohort analysis and feeds directly into payback period decisions. For the contrast with period-based reporting, see Cohort vs Calendar ROAS.
Reading It Well
- Compare cohorts at the same age, never an old cohort against a new one.
- Early checkpoints such as D7 ROAS give a fast signal, but later days show the full revenue picture.
- Small cohorts swing widely, so check volume before acting on a ratio.
- Use one revenue definition throughout, since gross and net figures give different answers.
Cohort ROAS in Linkrunner
Linkrunner offers cohort analysis and ROAS tracking in its dashboard, with installs, spend and revenue attributed to campaigns. For a practical walkthrough of building cohorts, read The Performance Marketer's Guide to Cohort Analysis and How To Define Cohorts.