TransUnion data shows importance of good targeting for ROAS

Making the best targeting decisions can have a compounding effect on return on ad spend (ROAS), according to new data released this week by TransUnion.

According to the TransUnion analysis, the upside in ROAS from better targeting could be as high as 9x.
TransUnion used real-world campaigns from 25 of its measurement clients across five verticals and found a widening performance gap as audiences became more targeted. An audience built with two optimal consumer traits had a 3.6-times ROAS upside, while an audience with three optimal traits had a 7.2x upside.

Conversely, the analysis also demonstrated the risk of making suboptimal targeting decisions. The more campaigns targeted the wrong audience segments, the worse their performance was. At the far end of that spectrum, mis-targeted campaigns saw a 90% drop in ROAS.

“In a world with thousands of targeting choices, the challenge is selecting the most effective option from many that appear similar,” Matt Spiegel, executive vice president of TruAudience Growth Strategy at TransUnion, said in a statement. “Our data proves that even within common attributes like income or age, the performance difference can be massive.”

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TransUnion’s analysis evaluated 26 targeting attributes across six distinct categories—such as age, income, presence of children and neighborhood type—and found that even subtle variations in targeting led to significant swings in ROAS.

The analysis highlights an opportunity for marketers. Rather than defaulting to broad assumptions—e.g., “go after high income” or “target by age group” — they can uncover more precise combinations, often where they least expect them.

The TransUnion study is based on Q4 2024 campaign data from 25 brands across five industries, with at least two brands per industry. Quarterly spend ranged from $5 million to over $100 million per brand. In total, the study analyzed $1.5 billion in campaign spending and more than $18.4 billion in events across a broad set of addressable paid-media channels, including audio, connected TV, display, search, social, and video.