Marketing ROI calculator, on profit and revenue
Measure what marketing returned on its full cost. Enter media spend, other marketing costs, the revenue marketing brought in and your gross margin. Add your work email to see ROI on gross profit, revenue ROI, ROAS on media and break-even revenue, with an AI analysis for your market.
- Marketing ROI on gross profit
- Revenue ROI, the simpler version
- ROAS on media spend
- Break-even revenue for marketing to pay for itself
- A verdict and an AI analysis with next steps
This marketing ROI calculator compares the gross profit your marketing produced with everything it cost: media plus people, tools, agencies and creative. It also shows the simpler revenue-based ROI, ROAS on media alone and the revenue marketing needs to pay for itself, so you know which version of ROI you are looking at.
How the calculator works
You enter media spend, other marketing costs (people, tools, agencies and creative), revenue from marketing, your gross margin and the period: month, quarter or year. The period labels the verdict and does not change the math. Business type and market give the AI analysis context, and currency labels your results.
The table shows the marketing ROI formula the calculator uses and the figures around it. The example column uses the default values for one month (illustrative): AED 50,000 of media, AED 20,000 of other costs, AED 260,000 of revenue and a 45% gross margin.
| Result | Formula | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Total marketing cost | Media spend + other costs | 50,000 + 20,000 = AED 70,000 |
| Marketing ROI (on gross profit) | (Revenue × gross margin − total cost) ÷ total cost × 100 | (117,000 − 70,000) ÷ 70,000 = 67.1% |
| Revenue ROI | (Revenue − total cost) ÷ total cost × 100 | (260,000 − 70,000) ÷ 70,000 = 271.4% |
| ROAS on media | Revenue ÷ media spend | 260,000 ÷ 50,000 = 5.20x |
| Break-even revenue | Total cost ÷ gross margin | 70,000 ÷ 45% = AED 155,556 |
Gross profit in the example is 260,000 × 45% = AED 117,000. If ROI on gross profit is zero or above, the verdict says what marketing returned on its full cost; in the example: "Marketing returned 67.1% on its full cost after product costs this month." If it is negative, the verdict gives the revenue you need to break even. An analysis with next steps follows, written by AI from your numbers (or rule-based if the AI is unavailable).
How to read your result
Know which ROI you are quoting. The same month shows 271.4% on revenue and 67.1% on gross profit, a fourfold difference. Revenue ROI treats the cost of the products sold as if it were return; the gross-profit version shows whether marketing paid for itself after product costs.
Zero is break-even. At 0% ROI on gross profit, marketing exactly covers its cost; in the example that happens at AED 155,556 of revenue. There is no universal good marketing ROI: it depends on your margin, which costs you include and how long revenue takes to arrive.
ROAS is not ROI. A 5.20x ROAS on media ignores the AED 20,000 of other costs and the 55% of revenue that goes on product costs. The marketing ROI glossary entry explains the difference, and the ROAS calculator handles ad-level checks.
Count revenue once. If you add up what each ad platform reports, an order that touched two platforms can be counted twice, and ROI looks better than it is. Our guide to marketing attribution models explains how to credit each sale once.
VAT and currencies
Enter revenue without VAT, because VAT is collected for the tax authority rather than kept. The standard rate is 5% in the UAE, 15% in Saudi Arabia since July 2020 and 20% in the UK, and Qatar's General Tax Authority lists no VAT among its taxes. If the example's AED 260,000 included 5% VAT, net revenue would be AED 247,619 and ROI on gross profit would fall from 67.1% to 59.2%. If the same figures included 20% VAT, it would fall to 39.3%. The calculator works in AED, SAR, QAR, GBP, USD or EUR.
How Grower helps
Grower's attribution engine de-duplicates conversions from every channel and app into one count, then credits each touchpoint with the model you pick, so revenue from marketing is counted once. The channels leaderboard ranks channels by ROAS, cost and CPA, and AI analyses of any campaign come with suggested actions you approve, dismiss or turn into a task.
Frequently asked questions
What is the marketing ROI formula?
Marketing ROI = (gross profit from marketing − total marketing cost) ÷ total marketing cost × 100, where gross profit is revenue × gross margin and total cost covers media plus people, tools, agencies and creative. In the example, (AED 117,000 − AED 70,000) ÷ AED 70,000 = 67.1%. A simpler version uses revenue instead of gross profit and gives 271.4%.
What is the difference between marketing ROI and ROAS?
ROAS divides revenue by media spend only and ignores product costs, so it suits day-to-day ad decisions. Marketing ROI uses gross profit and the full cost of marketing. The example's ROAS on media is 5.20x, yet ROI on gross profit is 67.1%, because AED 20,000 of other costs and product costs of 55% of revenue come out first.
What should count as revenue from marketing?
Revenue you can credit to marketing in the same period as the costs, counted once and without VAT. If you add up what each ad platform reports, an order that touched two platforms can be counted twice. Pick an attribution model and de-duplicate conversions first; our guide to attribution models explains the options.
Want marketing ROI on one de-duplicated revenue count? Book a demo and we'll connect a channel and show the recommendations it produces. For channel-level returns, try the ROAS calculator.