Free ForeverNo SignupAnnualised ROIUpdated 2026

ROI Calculator

Calculate the return on any investment — marketing campaigns, product features, hiring, or capital expenditure.

Return on Investment (ROI) measures the profitability of an investment relative to its cost. A 200% ROI means you earned $2 back for every $1 invested — a $3 return on a $1 investment. ROI is calculated as (Return − Investment) ÷ Investment × 100. Annualised ROI accounts for how long the investment takes to generate that return.

Total Investment

All costs associated with this investment: spend, labour, infrastructure

Total Return (Revenue / Value Generated)

Total revenue or value generated attributable to this investment

Investment DurationOptional — unlocks annualised ROI

How many months the investment ran (for annualised ROI)

The Formula

ROI (%) = (Return − Investment) ÷ Investment × 100

In plain English

Subtract the investment from the total return to get net return. Divide by the investment amount and multiply by 100.

Worked Example

Investment: $50,000. Return: $180,000. Net Return = $130,000. ROI = $130,000 ÷ $50,000 × 100 = 260%.

When to Use ROI vs Other Marketing Metrics

ROI is a general-purpose return metric. For paid advertising specifically, use ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) — it's faster to calculate and better for channel-level optimisation. For customer acquisition, use LTV:CAC. ROI is most useful for comparing heterogeneous investments: "Should we hire a content writer or buy more Google Ads?"

The key limitation of ROI: it ignores time value. A 100% ROI over 5 years is not as good as a 100% ROI over 6 months. Use annualised ROI when comparing investments of different durations.

100%+

Strong ROI threshold for marketing investment

Time

Key variable ROI ignores without annualisation

LTV:CAC

Better ROI metric for customer acquisition

ROAS

Better ROI metric for paid advertising channels

ROI Benchmarks by Investment Type (2026)

Investment Type	Typical ROI	Timeframe	Assessment
SEO / Content	200–500%	12–24 mo	Excellent long-term
Paid Social / Search	100–300%	1–3 mo	Good if optimised
Event / Trade Show	50–150%	3–12 mo	Depends on follow-up
Outbound SDR	50–200%	6–18 mo	Execution-dependent
Brand Advertising	Unmeasured	12–36 mo	Hard to attribute

Source: HubSpot State of Marketing 2025 · Gartner CMO Survey 2025

Common Mistakes

⚠️

Not accounting for all investment costs

ROI looks better when you undercount costs. Include staff time (at salary cost), tool subscriptions, agency fees, and opportunity cost. A campaign that "only cost $10K in ad spend" but required 40 hours of a $120K/year marketer's time actually cost $12,300.

⚠️

Misattributing revenue to the investment

Multi-touch attribution is hard. A customer who clicked a Google Ad and then signed up from a content piece — what fraction of their revenue belongs to each? Without clear attribution rules, ROI is misleading. Define attribution methodology first.

⚠️

Comparing ROI across investments of different durations

A 100% ROI in 1 month is dramatically better than 100% in 2 years. Always use annualised ROI when comparing investments of different durations. Otherwise you'll over-invest in slow long-cycle returns and miss short-cycle opportunities.

Frequently Asked Questions

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