Campaign ROI estimate
A founder spends $2,500 on a campaign that produces $7,800 in revenue and costs $1,800 to deliver.
- Project spend: $2,500
- Revenue generated: $7,800
- Delivery cost: $1,800
Growth planning
ROI Calculator
Compare campaign spend with revenue and fulfillment cost to estimate return on investment.
Growth planning
ROI Calculator
Model a campaign, content project or channel experiment before committing budget. Keep conservative assumptions for a safer baseline.
How to use this calculator
Start with conservative inputs, copy the result, then test a best-case and worst-case version. For production decisions, compare the estimate against actual accounting, analytics and payment data.
Best used for
Use this before funding a campaign, launch, tool purchase or content project where the return needs to be compared with the amount invested.
Formula
ROI compares the net gain from a project with the amount spent to produce that gain. It is most useful when the revenue and delivery costs can be tied to a clear campaign, channel or experiment.
Formula
ROI = (revenue - delivery cost - project spend) / project spend.
Example
How to read the result
- Positive ROI means the project produced more net gain than it cost in the modeled period.
- Short experiments should use conservative revenue attribution because early data is often noisy.
- Projects with delayed revenue should also be checked with the payback period calculator.
Common mistakes
- Counting all revenue as incremental when some would have happened anyway.
- Ignoring delivery cost and treating top-line revenue as return.
- Comparing projects with different time horizons using only one ROI number.
FAQ
Is ROI the same as profit margin?
No. ROI compares profit with the investment used to generate it. Profit margin compares profit with revenue.
What if project spend is zero?
ROI needs an investment amount to be meaningful. If there is no project spend, compare net gain, margin or opportunity cost instead.
Can this calculator prove attribution?
No. Attribution is often noisy. Treat the output as a scenario model and compare it with analytics, CRM and payment data.
Important limits
- Attribution can be noisy. Treat one-channel ROI as directional, not absolute.
- Do not use this as a guarantee of future returns.