ROI (Return on Investment)

What is ROI (return on investment)?

ROI (return on investment) is the return on an investment: profit minus the investment, divided by the investment. Unlike ROAS, ROI looks at all costs and not only at conversion value relative to ad costs. An ROI of 100 percent means the return was twice as high as the investment.

Why is ROI important?

• About profit: you see whether your marketing really earns money.
• Comparable across channels: also beyond Google Ads.
• Broader than ROAS: you include agency fees, tools and other costs.

Examples of ROI

• With a €5,000 investment (ads, agency, tools) and €8,000 gross profit, the ROI is 60 percent.
• A campaign with a high ROAS but a low margin can still have a low ROI.
• A negative ROI means the investment has not been earned back.

How do you use ROI?

Decide in advance what you count as investment (ad costs, agency fees, tools) and what as return, and stick to that choice. Link conversions to real revenue or margin so your ROI is right. Use ROAS for day-to-day steering and ROI for the question of whether the whole effort pays off. See analytics and dashboards.