Calculating and tracking your marketing Return on Investment (ROI) is essential to building a successful marketing plan. There are a myriad of ways to track your marketing ROI. To find the one that works best for your business, consider these 7 options, from simple to complex.

1. The simplest way to calculate ROI

The easiest way to calculate your marketing ROI is to divide the gross profit of your investment by the cost of investment. Many businesses find that this straightforward formula works well for them, especially at their beginning stages. ROI is expressed as a percentage, so multiply your result by 100.

2. Initial value of investment

To get a more accurate measurement of your ROI, particularly for new campaigns, it can be helpful to deduct the initial value of your investment from your gross profit before dividing the cost of investment. The initial investment is the amount needed to start a new project.

3. Net profit

Many companies choose to deduct other marketing and advertising expenses from their overall profit before calculating ROI. This can give you a more accurate ROI, because it takes more of your initial expenses into consideration.

4. Technical expenses

You may consider deducting technical expenses before calculating ROI, particularly if you’re investing a lot of money in coding, marketing platforms, email, content management systems, security and information, and software. Showcasing these products and services as part of the overall asset can encourage your company to continue to invest in technical solutions.

5. Creative expenses

For many marketing campaigns, it makes sense to deduct creative expenses before calculating ROI. These expenses may include website design, copywriting, photography, video creation, printing costs, and natural search. Including these factors in ROI calculation can help you track the return on specific creative services, which can be helpful in justifying creative investments.

6. Customer Lifetime Value

Instead of calculating ROI based on the gross profit of your investment, you can calculate the Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and divide that by your marketing costs. CLV measures the total profit returned by a customer or group of customers throughout their entire experience with your company. To measure CLV, multiply the average order total by the yearly average number of purchases. Then, multiply by the average customer retention time in years.

7. Consider your competition

It can be helpful to compare your efforts to those of your competitors when calculating ROI. Less of a formula and more good business sense, being aware of your competitors’ marketing plans can help you make smarter choices. 

To investigate your competition, take a look at their website. Consider the number of pages they have and how much engagement they get on review pages and social media platforms. Follow their email campaigns and take note of any events, branding, and sponsorships. You’re likely to find a brand-new way to optimize your marketing ROI.

If you’re in need of an accurate and streamlined way to calculate your return on marketing spend, schedule a free consultation with Journicity today.