What the campaign brought in. Gross profit gives the truer ROI.
Ad spend plus agency fees, tools and content for the campaign.
Marketing ROI
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Enter the return and marketing cost.
- Net return
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The marketing ROI formula
Marketing ROI = (return − marketing cost) ÷ marketing cost × 100
Example: A campaign costs $5,000 and brings $15,000 of revenue: ($15,000 − $5,000) ÷ $5,000 × 100 = 200% ROI. If your gross margin is 40%, the $15,000 is $6,000 of gross profit, and the ROI on profit is ($6,000 − $5,000) ÷ $5,000 × 100 = 20%.
What is marketing ROI?
Marketing ROI shows whether marketing earns more than it costs. 0% means you got your money back; anything below is a loss.
On revenue, ROI is close to ROAS minus one: $3 of revenue per $1 of ad spend is a 3× ROAS and a 200% ROI. On gross profit, it shows what marketing adds to the bottom line, which is why finance teams prefer it.
How to improve marketing ROI
- Compare ROI by channel and campaign, then move budget from the weakest to the strongest.
- Count the full return: repeat purchases from new customers often outweigh the first order.
- Cut what doesn't pay: campaigns with negative ROI after enough time to judge them.
- Raise conversion rates on the pages campaigns send people to.
What marketing ROI doesn't tell you
- ROI depends on which revenue you credit to marketing. Last-click reports and ad platforms each tell a different story, and some customers would have bought anyway.
- A short window undercounts channels that work slowly, such as content and search, and overcounts ones that take credit for sales already on the way.
OneLence helps marketing teams find growth opportunities, know what to do next, and grow more efficiently without simply spending more. It puts ads, search, AI assistants and affiliate partners side by side, with the visitors and sales each one brings, and says where to invest, hold or cut back. See how it works.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate marketing ROI?
Subtract marketing cost from the return it brought, divide by the cost and multiply by 100. ($15,000 − $5,000) ÷ $5,000 × 100 = 200%.
What is the difference between ROI and ROAS?
ROAS is revenue ÷ ad spend, such as 3×. ROI subtracts the cost first and is a percentage: the same campaign has a 200% ROI on revenue. On gross profit, ROI is lower and closer to what you keep.
Should marketing ROI use revenue or profit?
Profit gives the truer answer, because revenue includes the cost of what you sold. Use revenue only to compare campaigns with the same margins.
What is a good marketing ROI?
Any ROI above 0% on gross profit means marketing paid for itself. How much more you need depends on your other costs and how fast you want to grow.
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