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Ads should earn more than they cost. Use this marketing ROI calculator to see—fast—whether your ads make money.

Enter spend and revenue, then add clicks and orders if you have them. You’ll get ROI up front, plus ROAS, CAC, and conversion for deeper fixes.

How To Use This Marketing ROI Calculator

  1. Enter ad spend for the period.
  2. Enter attributable revenue for the same period.
  3. Open Advanced and add clicks and orders if you track them.
  4. Click Calculate.
  5. Review ROAS (×), ROI (%), conversion rate (%), and CAC ($). Re-run for different channels or campaigns.

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Key Formulas

  • ROAS (×) = Revenue ÷ Ad spend
  • ROI (%) = ((Revenue − Ad spend) ÷ Ad spend) × 100
  • Conversion rate (%) = Orders ÷ Clicks × 100
  • CAC ($) = Ad spend ÷ Orders

ROAS will reveal your revenue payback. ROI shows when you need the profit view on ad dollars alone. Use CAC and conversion rate to fix the funnel.

Example: One campaign, one week

Inputs: $5,000 spend, $8,700 revenue, 350 clicks, 25 orders.

MetricResult
ROAS1.74×
ROI74%
Conversion rate7.1%
CAC$200.00

Not bad—scale with care. CAC at $200 is only healthy if your gross margin and repeat rate support it.

What To Do With The Result

Numbers don’t fix themselves. Point them at a decision.

  • If ROAS < 1× or ROI < 0%. Pause losers. Redirect budget to proven ad groups or audiences.
  • If CAC is high and CVR is low. Fix landing pages, offer clarity, and speed. The cheapest CAC win is usually on-site.
  • If ROAS is fine, but margin is thin. Check fee drag and discounting before you scale.
  • If results swing week to week. Your attribution window or tagging may be off—clean the plumbing.

Proven Ways To Improve Results

Here’s where most teams find leverage first.

Benchmarks to Check Yourself Against

  • ROAS. Prospecting 1.5–2.5× is common; remarketing often runs higher.
  • CAC. Should make sense against your gross margin and LTV. A $200 CAC on a $120 AOV can still work if repeat rate is strong.
  • Conversion rate. 2–4% on cold traffic for ecommerce; higher with warm audiences and strong offers.

Close The Loop

Use this weekly. Compare channels. Save screenshots with notes on changes you made.

When ROAS rises and CAC falls, scale the budget deliberately, not all at once. When it dips, you’ll know why—because you were watching.

Sean Flannigan

Sean is the Senior Editor for The Retail Exec. He's spent years getting acquainted with the retail space, from warehouse management and international shipping to web development and ecommerce marketing. A writer at heart (and in actuality), he brings a deep passion for great writing and storytelling to retail topics big and small.