The short answer: performance marketing is advertising you can hold to a number. Pick the number with your finance team before you pick the agency.
What performance marketing is
Performance marketing is paid advertising bought and optimised against a measured outcome. The outcome is agreed first (a qualified lead, an order, a booked appointment), tracked end to end, and fed back to the ad platforms so their bidding learns what a good result looks like.
It is not a channel. Meta, Google and TikTok can all be run for reach or for performance; the difference is what you optimise to and what you report.
Channels Singapore firms use
| Channel | Good at |
|---|---|
| Google Search | Capturing people already looking for what you sell |
| Meta (Facebook, Instagram) | Creating demand with creative, lead forms, e-commerce |
| TikTok | Creator-led demand, TikTok Shop, younger audiences |
| Marketplaces and retail media | Buyers already in a shopping app |
The metrics a finance team should ask for
- Cost per qualified lead or per order, not cost per click.
- Return on ad spend, on revenue you can see in your own systems.
- Customer acquisition cost and payback, including agency and creative cost.
- Tracking coverage: share of conversions recorded server-side, since browser tracking misses a growing share.
Our break-even cost per lead calculator works out the most you can pay for a lead at your close rate and deal value.
Performance and brand
Performance marketing captures and converts demand; brand work builds it. Firms that cut all brand spend usually see performance costs rise over time, because fewer people know the name when the ad appears. The practical split is performance first, with brand added when performance costs start to climb against stable targeting.
How to judge an agency
- Do they agree the outcome metric with you before quoting?
- Do they set up server-side tracking, or rely on the browser pixel?
- Do reports show business outcomes, or platform metrics only?
- Can they show named results in your market?
Results from four Singapore campaigns
| Client | Result | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Manulife Financial Advisers | Cost per qualified lead SGD 142.00 → SGD 68.20 (−52%); advisory leads a month 280 → 1,344 (4.8×) | January–August 2026 |
| B9 Dental Centre | Cost per qualified lead (high-value treatments) SGD 65 → SGD 38 (−42%); return on ad spend (completed treatment revenue) 3.8× | First 90 days vs baseline |
| Epitex Home | Blended return on ad spend 1.4× → 3.8×; cost per order SGD 107.14 → SGD 40.92 (−62%) | January 2025 – August 2026 |
| Camtech Health | Blended return on ad spend 1.5× → 4.2× (+180%); cost per order SGD 78.50 → SGD 36.80 (−53%) | January–August 2026 |
See how we run it on our performance marketing service in Singapore, and our work with large brands in Singapore.
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Our team specialises in performance marketing built for the Singapore market — SGD budgeting, MOH/PDPA-aware compliance, and campaigns run for Singapore accounts, not copied from Malaysia.
Published by shakalakaa team · Editorial standards