ROI Calculator — Marketing ROI

Spend in, revenue out

Marketing ROI weighs what a campaign cost against the revenue it brought in. Enter total ad and program spend as the cost and the attributed revenue as the return, and the net contribution and ROI percent show whether the campaign paid for itself and by how much.

This is the same idea marketers call ROAS, return on ad spend, just stated differently: a 4x ROAS means revenue is four times spend, which once you net out the cost is a 300% marketing ROI. Campaigns run over a single period, so the holding period is usually left at zero and you read the simple ROI percent rather than an annualized rate.

Questions

How does marketing ROI relate to ROAS?

ROAS is revenue divided by spend, while marketing ROI is the net gain divided by spend. They describe the same campaign from different angles: a 4x ROAS is a 300% ROI because ROI subtracts the cost first. Use whichever your team reports, but do not mix them up — the ROI number is always one unit lower.

Should I leave the holding period at zero for a campaign?

Usually, yes. Most campaigns are measured over a single period, so an annualized rate adds nothing and the simple ROI percent is the right read. Only set a holding period if you are deliberately spreading a multi-year program's return across years.

More ways to use this calculator

Start with the main roi calculator or compare the other published scenarios.