Marketing ROI Calculator
Enter what a campaign cost and what it produced to see cost per lead, cost per customer and whether it paid for itself.
- Cost per lead
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- New customers
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- Cost to acquire a customer
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- Revenue from the campaign
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- Revenue per $1 spent
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- Profit after ad spend
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- Return on ad spend, by profit
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The formulas
| Figure | How it is calculated |
|---|---|
| Cost per lead | Ad spend ÷ leads |
| New customers | Leads × conversion rate |
| Customer acquisition cost | Ad spend ÷ new customers |
| Revenue | New customers × average sale |
| Revenue per $1 spent | Revenue ÷ ad spend |
| Profit after ad spend | (Revenue × margin) − ad spend |
| Return by profit | Profit after ad spend ÷ ad spend |
Reading the result
Cost per lead is the least important number on the page. A campaign with cheap leads that never buy is worse than one with expensive leads that do. Judge campaigns by cost per customer.
Revenue is not profit. A campaign that returns $3 for every $1 looks healthy until you remember the cost of doing the work. That is why the margin field exists.
One month is a small sample. A handful of sales either way can swing these figures a lot. Compare campaigns over a few months before cutting or doubling anything.
What the calculator cannot see
It only knows about the first sale. If customers come back, the real return is higher. It also cannot tell whether those customers would have found you anyway, which is the hard question in all advertising. Tracking which campaigns produce customers covers how to get closer to an answer.
The thinking behind the tool.
How to Calculate Cost Per Lead (and Why It Is Not Enough)
The formula for cost per lead, how to use it to compare marketing channels, and the two numbers that matter more.
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