DTC Podcast | Ep 605: Meta Attribution Change – Why ROAS Dropped 40%

Subscribe to DTC Newsletter – https://dtcnews.link/signup Meta changed attribution in March — and suddenly every brand’s ROAS looks worse. Chris Richards from Pilothouse breaks down what actually happened, why performance appears to have dropped 30–45%, and how brands should respond without damaging long-term growth. For DTC founders and operators scaling from $5M–$50M who rely on Meta as a core channel. In this episode: What Meta’s attribution change actually did Why social proof no longer shows up the same way How to interpret rising CPA and falling ROAS Why MER is a better north star right now The risk of over-retargeting after performance dips Who this is for: DTC founders, CMOs, and media buyers trying to make sense of Meta performance What to steal: Shift from ROAS to MER as your primary KPI Keep funding top-of-funnel even when numbers look worse Use consistent attribution (MTA) to guide spend decisions Timestamps 00:00 Meta attribution change explained 02:00 Click vs engaged attribution breakdown 04:00 Impact on ROAS and CPA metrics 06:00 Social proof and ad performance insights 08:00 Why engagement optimization can backfire 10:00 Importance of multi-touch attribution tools 12:00 How campaign strategy is shifting 14:00 MER as a new performance north star 16:00 Omnichannel and ecosystem thinking 18:00 Meta automation and future attribution trends 20:00 What brands should do right now 22:00 Strategy mistakes and growth risks Subscribe to DTC Newsletter – https://dtcnews.link/signup Advertise on DTC – https://dtcnews.link/advertise Work with Pilothouse – https://www.pilothouse.co/?utm_source=AKNF605 Follow us on Instagram & Twitter – @dtcnewsletter Watch this interview on YouTube – https://dtcnews.link/video