Free marketing calculator · Return on investment
Marketing ROI Calculator
Estimate marketing return on investment using contribution rather than treating revenue as profit, and compare the result with MER and the contribution remaining after marketing spend.
“ROI” is used in several different ways in marketing. This calculator makes its definition explicit so the result can be understood and reproduced rather than becoming another ambiguous dashboard percentage.
How this Marketing ROI Calculator works
The calculator first applies your contribution margin to revenue. It then subtracts marketing spend to estimate the contribution remaining after marketing, and expresses that amount as a percentage of marketing spend.
Example: £250,000 revenue at a 40% contribution margin creates £100,000 contribution before marketing. After £40,000 marketing spend, £60,000 remains. £60,000 ÷ £40,000 = 150% Marketing ROI.
Why not calculate ROI from revenue alone?
If £1,000 of marketing generates £5,000 of revenue, describing the £4,000 difference as “profit” ignores the variable costs required to produce those sales. That can materially overstate the economic return.
Using contribution margin is still a simplified marketing view — it is not the same as company net profit — but it avoids treating every pound of revenue as if it were available to repay marketing investment.
What costs are included?
In this calculator, marketing spend is the investment denominator. Contribution margin represents revenue after variable costs but before marketing spend and fixed costs. Fixed overheads are not deducted from the headline Marketing ROI metric.
This matters because ROI has no single useful marketing definition unless the numerator and denominator are stated. If your organisation uses a different definition, document it and keep it consistent rather than comparing percentages built from different cost bases.
Marketing ROI vs ROAS
ROAS compares attributable advertising revenue with advertising spend. Marketing ROI here considers contribution after marketing spend relative to marketing investment. A campaign can therefore show a positive-looking ROAS while producing a weak or negative contribution-based return if margins are low.
MER, meanwhile, compares total business revenue with marketing spend. Together, the measures answer different questions about attribution, efficiency and economics.
Build the full profitability picture
The Marketing Profitability Calculator adds fixed costs, break-even revenue, break-even MER, target profit, required revenue and marketing-spend headroom to the same contribution-based framework.
Marketing ROI calculator FAQs
What does 100% Marketing ROI mean in this calculator?
It means the contribution remaining after marketing spend is equal to the marketing spend itself. Because ROI definitions vary, compare this result only with figures calculated on the same basis.
Can Marketing ROI be negative?
Yes. If contribution generated by the entered revenue is lower than marketing spend, contribution after marketing is negative and the resulting Marketing ROI will also be negative.
Is Marketing ROI the same as company profit?
No. This calculator does not deduct fixed costs from the headline ROI metric. The wider Marketing Profitability Calculator can include fixed costs when modelling profit and break-even revenue.
Should I use attributable revenue or total revenue?
Match the revenue scope to the marketing investment and question being analysed. For campaign-level advertising efficiency, ROAS is often clearer. For a business-level view of total revenue against total marketing spend, MER is the clearer label.