Influencers Beat Meta: The ROAS Numbers From SNOCKS
At THIS IS MARKETING 2026 in Frankfurt, Johannes Kliesch, co-founder of SNOCKS, showed real numbers from 2026 in his keynote. According to the organizers, SNOCKS is a group with more than 150 employees and over €100 million in annual revenue. A brand of that size rarely reveals how each advertising channel pays off.
marketer UX was in the room, and we photographed the slides. This article shows the numbers as they appeared on the slides, along with our view as an online marketing agency. Everything else we saw at the conference is in our recap of THIS IS MARKETING 2026.
Key takeaways
- Influencer marketing had the best ROAS of the named channels at SNOCKS: €1.52 in revenue per euro spent, ahead of Google Ads at 1.37, TV at 1.15 and Meta at 1.07.
- Influencers beat Meta in all 4 countries shown, in Germany by 1.51 to 1.17. In Poland, a new customer cost €23 via influencers versus €38 via Meta.
- One channel was far ahead with a ROAS of 5.7. The slides did not say which one.
- TikTok Shop is growing fast: sister brand FEMTIS went from €568 in July to €58,000 in revenue there in September.
- Post-purchase upsells brought in around €1.85 million in revenue from August to October and around €542,000 in profit after all costs.
- His tip for small brands: set up a Grok bot that finds suitable retailers and contacts them automatically.
ROAS by channel: influencers ahead of Google Ads, TV and Meta
The key slide shows ROAS by channel, calculated as revenue after returns per €1 of ad spend, for January to October 2026.
One channel has by far the best ROAS
| Channel | ROAS (revenue after returns per €1) |
|---|---|
| unnamed (“?”) | 5.7 |
| Influencer | 1.52 |
| Google Ads | 1.37 |
| TV | 1.15 |
| Meta | 1.07 |
It is worth noting that SNOCKS calculates ROAS after returns. Fashion retail has a lot of returns, so a ROAS based on gross revenue often looks much better than it really is.
Influencers beat Meta in every country
A second slide compares influencer marketing and Meta Ads in 4 countries, also for January to October 2026.
Influencers and Meta by country
| Country | Influencer | Meta Ads |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 1.51 | 1.17 |
| Poland | 1.62 | 1.07 |
| France | 0.74 | 0.60 |
| Italy | 0.66 | 0.63 |
The gap is widest in Poland. According to the slide, a new customer cost €23 via influencers there and €38 via Meta. In France and Italy, both channels are below 1, so each euro spent initially brings back less than a euro in revenue. For a brand built on repeat purchases, that can still work out, because the first order is not the last.
Influencer or affiliate?
Kliesch showed how SNOCKS works with creators through a simple comparison: €5,000 fixed for one big name, where nobody knows in advance whether it will sell. Or 100 creators who get the product for free and post about it. SNOCKS then does more with the ones who sell well.
The second approach is essentially affiliate marketing (in German) with many small partners. The risk per partnership is small, and the results quickly show which creators fit the brand. For smaller brands in particular, this is a good way to start, because the budget does not depend on a single person.
Profitability by channel
Revenue is not profit. That is why Kliesch also showed how much contribution margin each sales channel leaves, measured as CM3 as a percentage of revenue, for 2026 up to 9 November, as approximate values.
Rough profitability by channel
The brand’s own online shop came in at around 18 %, marketplaces at 27 % and Amazon at 31 %. Once again, one channel was clearly ahead at 45 %, and once again the slide only showed a question mark. CM3 is the contribution margin after product, shipping and marketing costs. Exactly how it is defined varies from company to company.
TikTok Shop: FEMTIS from 0 to €58,000 a month
For brands with a visual product or a story to tell, Kliesch called TikTok Shop the number 1 route right now. He backed this up with FEMTIS, a period underwear brand from the same group.
FEMTIS on TikTok Shop
| Month in 2026 | TikTok Shop revenue | Share of total revenue |
|---|---|---|
| July | €568 | 0.7 % |
| August | €38,000 | 25.2 % |
| September | €58,000 | 39.5 % |
| October | €41,000 | 29.5 % |
Within 2 months, almost 40 % of FEMTIS revenue came from TikTok Shop. The difference from classic ads: people buy directly in the app, without going through the brand’s own online shop. They discover the product in a video and buy it in the same moment.
Post-purchase upsells: €542,000 profit in 3 months
The largest amount in the talk did not come from an ad channel, but from an app for additional sales after checkout. In a single month, it brought in €722,980 in additional revenue according to the slide. Kliesch also showed how much of that is left:
| Upsells from August to October 2026 | Amount |
|---|---|
| Upsell revenue | €1,849,000 |
| Returns (approx.) | −€477,000 |
| Goods (approx.) | −€384,000 |
| Logistics and payment (approx.) | −€252,000 |
| Extra returns and cancellations of the first order (approx.) | −€191,000 |
| App (approx.) | −€3,000 |
| Profit after all costs | approx. €542,000 |
What we like about this slide is how honest the calculation is: it also deducts the extra returns and cancellations that the upsells cause on the first order. According to another slide, SNOCKS switched to upsells and downsells after purchase, among other things.
His tip for small brands: a Grok bot
To close, Kliesch answered the question of how he would start out as a small brand today. His answer fit on one slide with 3 steps.
How I would do it as a small brand
- Set up a Grok bot.
- Have it find luxury hotels or small stores.
- Contact and negotiate automatically.
Grok Bot is a product by xAI: AI teammates that sign in to a team’s tools and complete tasks on their own. We will test Grok Bot against our own agents built on Claude and report back.
What the numbers mean for advertisers
The slides show the numbers of a large D2C brand. They do not transfer one to one, but 4 points apply to almost any ad budget:
- Calculate ROAS after returns. If a lot comes back, use revenue after returns as the basis. Otherwise every channel looks better than it is.
- Compare channels by contribution margin, not revenue. A ROAS of 1.07 usually means there is no profit on the first order after product and shipping costs. Whether the channel pays off depends on the value of the whole customer relationship.
- Pay attention to measurement. Influencer revenue is usually attributed through codes and links, ads through the platform’s own data. Comparing channels needs a consistent attribution model or, in addition, marketing mix modeling.
- Start small and scale what works. 100 creators with a free product, a TikTok Shop test or an agent that contacts retailers cost little and quickly show where to go next.
If you want your own channels evaluated this way, with clean measurement and numbers after returns, get in touch.
All numbers are taken from the slides of the keynote “Von Socken zum Millionen-Business: 5 Hacks aus 10 Jahren SNOCKS” by Johannes Kliesch at THIS IS MARKETING 2026 on 11 November 2026 in Frankfurt. Photos: marketer UX.
FAQ
What ROAS does SNOCKS get from Meta Ads?
According to a slide by Johannes Kliesch at THIS IS MARKETING 2026, Meta ROAS at SNOCKS was 1.07 from January to October 2026, calculated as revenue after returns per €1 of ad spend. Influencers reached 1.52, Google Ads 1.37.
Is influencer marketing more profitable than Meta Ads?
At SNOCKS, yes: in 2026, influencers beat Meta in all 4 countries shown, in Germany with a ROAS of 1.51 versus 1.17. Whether that applies to other brands depends on the product, the audience and the measurement.
What is the difference between influencer and affiliate marketing?
With classic influencer marketing, a brand pays one person a fixed fee, such as €5,000, without knowing in advance whether it will sell. With the affiliate approach, many creators get the product for free, and the brand keeps working with the ones who demonstrably sell.
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