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ROI calculator
Return on investment, that is, what percentage the money you put in earned, or lost. The result updates as you type.
Return on investment (ROI)
A negative result means a loss, the investment hasn't paid for itself yet.
- ROI
- — %
What ROI is and how it's calculated
ROI (Return on Investment) measures what percentage an investment earned you above what you put into it:
ROI = (earnings − investment) / investment × 100
A company that put 10,000 Kč into an ad campaign and earned 50,000 Kč thanks to it has an ROI of (50,000 − 10,000) / 10,000 × 100 = 400 %. Earnings of 8,000 Kč from the same investment would mean an ROI of −20 %, a loss.
An ROI of 0 % isn't zero success, it's the break-even point. The investment just paid for itself. A positive percentage is profit, a negative one is loss.
What to watch out for
- The earnings should be the benefit of the investment, not the company's total revenue. If sales grew for other reasons too, the campaign's ROI comes out overstated.
- ROI doesn't see time. A hundred percent in a month and a hundred percent in five years are the same number in this formula; when comparing investments of different lengths, look at the annualised figure as well.
- ROI doesn't see brand value or loyalty. A campaign that "only" builds awareness may have a low immediate ROI and still make sense. CLV is a better fit for long-term benefit.
For pure advertising spend, the related metrics ROAS, ROMI and PNO are used. They differ in what exactly enters the numerator.
Where to go next
You can do the maths. But what next? How to turn customers who bought once into customers who buy repeatedly is the subject of the book Opakovaný prodej.