Why many brands use Underperformers campaigns
Even the best-structured campaigns leave some (or even most) products behind. They get impressions and spend, but never meet the required ROAS or profit targets. Instead of pausing them immediately, an Underperformers campaign gives these items a second and final chance under controlled conditions.
This approach helps identify whether products truly can’t perform or simply didn’t get enough algorithmic support in the main campaign. It also reveals valuable insights — if a large share of underperformers comes from one category or brand, you know where to improve your main structure.
Who is it good for
Underperformers campaigns are ideal for advertisers who already run advanced, performance-driven structures like ROAS or POAS campaigns. They’re especially useful for ecommerce brands that want to separate weak performers, test them with limited budgets, and refine their main campaign setup based on real data.
- Gives low-performing products one final chance before exclusion
- Protects main campaigns from wasted spend
- Generates insights for category or feed optimization
- Helps confirm if weak products are unprofitable or just underexposed
- Improves long-term efficiency by cleaning up your product catalog
- May still spend on products that ultimately won’t improve
- Requires clear thresholds and regular performance checks
- Adds another layer of campaign management and reporting
- Some products will never recover, even with extra visibility
How structuring Underperformers campaigns looks like
When creating Underperformers campaigns, your goal is to isolate products that have received enough spend or impressions but didn’t meet expected performance (either by ROAS or POAS).
Before segmenting:
- Define what “underperforming” means for your account (e.g., ROAS below 200% or POAS below 1).
- Set a minimum ad spend threshold so you don’t move products too early.
- Exclude “dead” products (zero impressions/clicks) — those belong in your Zombie campaign.
Benchmarks for defining underperformers
ROAS-based benchmark:
Products that fail to reach your lowest campaign ROAS target (e.g., below 200%).
Example tiers:
- High Performance: 600%+
- Medium Performance: 400%+
- Low Performance: 200%+
→ Anything below 200% ROAS qualifies as underperforming.
POAS-based benchmark:
- Products with POAS below 1 (losing money) or below 1.2 if you want a profit buffer.
- POAS > 1 = profitable, POAS < 1 = loss-making.
Minimum ad spend:
- Only move a product if it has spent enough budget to draw reliable conclusions.
- Avoid shifting items that spent only a few euros/dollars — they haven’t had a fair test yet.
Segmentation approaches
Most brands start with one simple campaign, but you can expand if needed:
Underperformers campaign
- Products with ROAS between 100% and 199%.
- Target ROAS: around 300%.
- Budget: moderate — designed to test and recover products.
Losers campaign
- Products with ROAS below 100% (or POAS < 1).
- Target ROAS: around 200%.
- Budget: small — a “last chance” campaign before pausing.
Before starting the setup, make sure to define clear thresholds that determine when a product becomes underperforming.
Tips for setup and maintenance
- Review every month: Remove products that continue to underperform and move recovered ones back to main campaigns. Dotidot does that automaticaly.
- Keep budgets tight: These campaigns should discover opportunities, not drain spend.
- Test creative or feed updates: Sometimes poor performance is due to weak assets or missing attributes.
- Analyze patterns: If most underperformers share a category, supplier, or price range, you’ve found your next optimization area.
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