Marketing ROI Calculator
that shows the full picture.
Enter what you spent and what it brought in. Get your ROI, ROAS, cost per lead, customer acquisition cost, lifetime value, and LTV to CAC ratio in real time, each graded against 2026 benchmarks. Free, no signup.
Your numbers
Your results
Your campaign is profitable and your unit economics are healthy.
Estimates based on the numbers you enter and standard marketing formulas. Your real results depend on your offer, market, and execution.
How to read your marketing ROI (and the numbers most people miss)
Most marketing reports show one number: revenue. That hides the truth. The same ₦1,000,000 in sales can be a great month or a terrible one, depending on what it cost you to get it. This calculator pulls apart the numbers that actually decide whether your marketing makes money, and grades each one against current benchmarks so you know where you stand.
Marketing ROI vs ROAS: they are not the same
This is the mistake that flatters bad campaigns. ROAS counts only ad spend. ROI counts everything: ads, tools, content, and the hours you pay for. A campaign can show a healthy 500% ROAS and still be barely profitable once the full cost base is in. Use ROAS to optimise inside one paid channel, and ROI to decide where the budget actually goes.
Break-even ROAS: the number to know before you spend
Your break-even ROAS depends on your profit margin, and most people never work it out. The thinner your margin, the harder your ads have to work just to stop losing money.
| Gross margin | Break-even ROAS | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 20% | 5.0x | Ads must return 5x just to break even |
| 40% | 2.5x | A common ecommerce target |
| 60% | 1.7x | Typical for services |
| 80% | 1.25x | High-margin SaaS can profit at low ROAS |
The one ratio that tells you if growth is sustainable
Single campaigns can win or lose. The LTV to CAC ratio tells you whether your whole acquisition model holds up. It compares what a customer is worth over their lifetime to what it costs to acquire them.
- Below 1:1 — you lose money on every customer. Not viable at scale.
- Around 3:1 — the widely used healthy benchmark. Each customer returns three times their acquisition cost.
- Above 5:1 — strong economics, and often a sign you could spend more to grow faster.
What counts as a good close rate
Close rate (lead to customer) swings hugely by channel and intent. As a rough guide from 2026 benchmark data: B2B lead-to-customer often sits near 1 to 2 percent, broad paid-social traffic converts lowest, while warm email lists, referrals, and search-driven leads convert far higher. If your number looks low, check the source of your leads before you blame the offer.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your total marketing cost, not just ad budget, for a true ROI.
- Switch to Whole channel mode to measure an entire channel like SEO or email, where there is no separate ad spend.
- Set purchases per customer above 1 if people buy from you more than once, that is where lifetime value lives.
- Use the benchmarks next to each result to see what is strong, okay, or worth fixing.
Want a team to actually move these numbers? Shakeworld runs growth campaigns and training for businesses across Africa, Europe, and North America. The tool is free either way.
Marketing ROI, answered
A positive ROI means your campaign made money, but the bar depends on your channel and margins. Across channels, paid search often returns 200 to 400%, while email can return far more because it costs so little. As a working rule, aim for at least 5:1 in revenue for every 1 in spend on a single campaign, and watch your LTV to CAC ratio for the long game.
Marketing ROI is (revenue from marketing minus total marketing cost) divided by total marketing cost, times 100. The key word is total cost. Include ad spend, tools, content, and the time you pay for, not just the ad budget. That is the difference between ROAS, which counts only ad spend, and true ROI, which counts everything.
ROAS (return on ad spend) measures revenue per 1 of ad spend only. It ignores staff, tools, and content costs, so it always looks better than reality. ROI measures total return against total investment. A campaign with 500% ROAS might be 200% ROI once you add the full cost base. Use ROAS to optimise inside one paid channel, and ROI for real budget decisions.
LTV to CAC compares what a customer is worth over their lifetime to what it cost to acquire them. The widely used healthy benchmark is 3:1 or higher. Below 1:1 you lose money on every customer. This single ratio tells you whether your growth is sustainable or whether you are buying revenue at a loss.
Break-even ROAS is the return on ad spend you need just to cover your costs, before profit. It depends on your profit margin: a business with a 20% margin needs a ROAS of about 5 to break even, while an 80% margin business can break even near 1.25. Knowing this number before you launch tells you whether a campaign can ever be profitable at your current margins.
Yes, completely free, with no signup and no limits. It runs entirely in your browser, so your numbers never leave your device. It is part of ShakeKit, a free set of marketing tools from Shakeworld. Use it as often as you like.
Know your numbers. Then grow them.
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