eber
Growth | Performance Marketing
Feat. Mike Lim, Managing Director at Insightout
ROI is everywhere in marketing conversations today. Every report has a dashboard. Every platform claims credit. But behind the numbers, many marketers still struggle to answer a simple question: what actually worked?
In this episode, Mike Lim, Managing Director at Insightout, breaks down what performance marketing really means in 2026, how attribution should be handled, and what marketers must measure if they want credibility inside the boardroom.
Mike begins by redefining performance marketing. It is not about cheaper clicks. It is not about lower CPM. It is not about chasing platform metrics.
It is about business outcomes.
That mindset changes how budgets move. In traditional media buying, spend is allocated by channel and optimized within that lane. In performance marketing, budget flows toward what drives revenue. If one channel delivers higher return, budget shifts there. Planning becomes dynamic, not fixed.
But the real tension today is attribution.
Meta says it drove conversions. Google says it drove conversions. Meanwhile, your finance team only sees one number in the bank account.
The issue is not that platforms are wrong. The issue is that marketers often rely too heavily on what platforms report, without building their own measurement foundation.
Mike emphasizes that attribution has never been fully “solved.” Every platform has its own attribution window, its own logic, and its own incentives. That is why marketers must take back control through structured click-based tracking and GA4 configuration. Not just installing it, but setting proper attribution windows based on the business model.
A restaurant should not measure like a hotel. A hotel should not measure like an e-commerce flash sale. Sales cycle length matters. If your attribution window does not match your customer journey, your reported ROAS will never tell the full story.
He also highlights a common leadership blind spot. Many teams present platform dashboards because they are convenient. They are visual. They look official. But convenience is not the same as accuracy. And eventually, inconsistencies show up.
Budgets get questioned. Performance fluctuates. Confidence drops.
Instead of asking what Meta reports, Mike believes leaders should be asking a better question.
How are we tracking actual conversion across channels, and can we explain it clearly?
Measurement also depends on funnel stage. If you are building awareness, impressions are not enough. Brand search lift is a stronger signal. If you are mid-funnel, traffic quality and engagement matter more than volume. If you are conversion-focused, ROAS is key, but so is understanding checkout behavior and delayed conversions that fall outside platform windows.
He also cautions against blindly using global benchmarks.
US or European published benchmarks rarely reflect Southeast Asian realities. Market size, cultural behavior, currency differences, and cost structures all distort comparison. Instead, he recommends starting with platform-level forecasts for your exact audience and campaign type, then building your own benchmark from real performance data.
Six weeks, given sufficient budget and reach, is often enough to establish a stable performance baseline. But stability only matters if you are measuring the right signals.
At the end of the conversation, Mike shares what he believes will separate average marketers from exceptional ones in 2026.
Because tools can show numbers. AI can generate suggestions. Platforms can optimize delivery. But insight is what connects data to decision. Insight is what allows a marketer to defend budget confidently. Insight is what turns marketing from expense into investment.
In 2026, measurement will not be a reporting task. It will be a strategic advantage.