Marketing ROI Calculator — Free Marketing Return on Investment Calculator
Calculate marketing ROI from revenue and total marketing investment. Includes guidance on ROI vs ROAS and 2026 category benchmarks.
Marketing ROI measures the profit generated by marketing relative to the total cost of that marketing. Unlike ROAS — which ignores COGS and overhead — ROI answers the CFO's question: 'Did this investment actually make us money?' This calculator subtracts COGS and marketing cost from revenue, then divides net profit by marketing cost to give you ROI as a percentage.
Revenue attributed to the marketing activity.
COGS tied to that revenue (for gross profit calculation).
All marketing costs: media, agency fees, production, tools, headcount.
Marketing ROI
200.00%
Net return on marketing investment as a percentage
How It Works
The formula is: **Marketing ROI = ((Revenue − COGS − Marketing Cost) ÷ Marketing Cost) × 100**. If a campaign drives $500,000 in revenue with $200,000 in COGS and $100,000 in total marketing investment, the ROI is ((500,000 − 200,000 − 100,000) ÷ 100,000) × 100 = 200%. That means every dollar invested returned two dollars of net profit on top of paying for itself. Positive ROI means the campaign made money after all costs; negative ROI means you lost money.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good marketing ROI in 2026?
A positive ROI (>0%) means the campaign paid for itself and generated profit. Healthy ranges by category: DTC ecommerce 100–200% ROI (after COGS and media), B2B SaaS 150–300% ROI (measured on first-year customer revenue; full-lifetime ROI is far higher), CPG retail 50–150% (margin-compressed), subscription 200%+ (once customers renew past the first period). Beware of short-window ROI — brand campaigns often show negative ROI in a 30-day window but strong ROI over 12 months.
What's the difference between ROI and ROAS?
ROAS (return on ad spend) divides revenue by ad spend only — it ignores COGS, overhead, and any cost that isn't paid media. ROI divides net profit by total marketing investment — so it captures COGS, salaries, tools, agency fees, and production. A campaign with 5× ROAS can have negative ROI if gross margins are thin or overhead is high. Channel teams optimize to ROAS; CFOs report ROI.
Should I include brand spend in ROI?
Yes, but use a longer measurement window. Brand campaigns typically generate ROI over 6–24 months as awareness compounds into lower-funnel conversion. Measuring brand ROI on a 30-day window almost always shows negative returns and leads to the wrong conclusion. Use marketing mix modeling (MMM), incrementality testing, or long-window cohort analysis for brand ROI — not last-touch attribution.
What costs should be included in 'total marketing investment'?
Media spend, agency fees, production costs (creative, photography, video), marketing software and analytics tools, sponsorships and events, martech tool subscriptions, and the loaded cost of marketing headcount (salary + benefits + taxes). Exclude sales headcount (that's CAC, not marketing ROI) and G&A. For fully-loaded marketing ROI, include a proportional share of executive and finance time spent on marketing oversight.
Why does my marketing ROI look negative?
Common reasons: attribution only captures last-touch (missing view-through and assisted conversions), measurement window is too short, you're counting brand spend against performance conversions only, COGS includes fixed costs that should be excluded, or the campaign genuinely lost money. Start by widening the attribution window and segmenting ROI by campaign type before concluding the marketing didn't work.
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