What is Marketing ROI?
Net return generated by marketing investment.
How to calculate it
Calculate Marketing ROI as: (Revenue attributable to marketing − Cost) / Cost × 100. Pull the inputs from your connected data and track the trend over time in your dashboard.
Examples
Example 1
Marketing drives $300,000 attributable revenue on $60,000 spend -> 400% ROI (5:1 revenue-to-cost).
Example 2
Marketing drives $360k in attributable revenue on $60k of spend -> 500% ROI, though attribution gaps mean the true figure could be somewhat lower.
Why it matters
Marketing ROI is the net return generated by marketing investment and is the metric leadership uses to justify budget and guide allocation across programs. It forces marketing to connect spend to revenue rather than activity. Its accuracy hinges on attribution, which is why it should be triangulated with ROAS and CAC rather than trusted in isolation.
Benchmark context
A 5:1 revenue-to-cost ratio is often cited as good marketing ROI; below 2:1 generally means a program is barely breaking even after costs.
Common pitfalls
Attribution gaps make true ROI hard to isolate.
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