Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) — Percentage
Enter Ad Spend and Ad Revenue to compute Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) as a percentage.
Hi, welcome to Hive Calculator! Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is a performance metric used to measure the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising. It evaluates the efficiency and profitability of marketing efforts and helps businesses decide where to allocate their advertising budget. ROAS is expressed as a percentage or a ratio.
The formula is:
ROAS (%) = (Ad Revenue ÷ Ad Spend) × 100
This tells you how many dollars you earned for every dollar spent and how effective your advertising campaigns truly are.
Purpose of the ROAS — Percentage Calculator
The Hive Calculator ROAS tool is built to give marketers, business owners, and analysts a quick and reliable way to measure the performance of their advertising efforts. By entering just two inputs — Ad Spend and Ad Revenue — you instantly receive a clear ROAS percentage.
Ad Spend = 1200
Ad Revenue = 1755
This returns:
ROAS = 146.25%
This indicates that for every $1 spent, you generated $1.46 in revenue.
Why ROAS Matters for Businesses
ROAS directly informs decisions about:
– Budget allocation
– Campaign optimization
– Channel performance analysis
– Predicting profitability
– Scaling advertising efforts
High-performing marketing teams and agencies rely on ROAS to evaluate which ads, audiences, keywords, or platforms deliver the highest returns.
Understanding the ROAS Inputs
1. Ad Spend
This represents the total amount invested in a marketing or advertising campaign. It may include:
– Pay-per-click (PPC) costs
– Social media advertising budgets
– Display ads
– Influencer spend
– Video ad budgets
– Native ads
– Any other paid marketing cost
2. Ad Revenue
This is the revenue directly attributable to your advertising efforts. It may be tracked through:
– Tracking pixels
– UTM-tagged URLs
– CRM integrations
– Conversion tracking
– Third-party analytics
The more accurate your attribution, the more reliable your ROAS will be.
How ROAS Percentage Is Calculated
Ad Spend = 1200
Ad Revenue = 1755
Formula:
ROAS (%) = (Ad Revenue ÷ Ad Spend) × 100
ROAS (%) = (1755 ÷ 1200) × 100
ROAS (%) = 1.4625 × 100
ROAS (%) = 146.25%
This means you earned 46.25% profit above the spend. Put another way:
For every $1 spent, you generated $1.46 in total revenue.
Using the Hive ROAS Calculator
The calculator makes your workflow simple:
Your clean interface allows quick adjustments to inputs so you can test:
- Campaign variations
- Budget changes
- Revenue attribution adjustments
- Seasonal trends
- A/B testing performance
This flexibility makes it ideal for marketers who need rapid insights.
Example of ROAS in Action
Imagine an e-commerce store promoting a sale through paid social ads. They invest heavily in multiple campaigns and want to understand which ones are performing best.
Example:
Ad Spend: $10,000
Ad Revenue: $32,500
ROAS (%) = (32,500 ÷ 10,000) × 100
ROAS (%) = 3.25 × 100
ROAS (%) = 325%
This means the campaign generated $3.25 for every $1 spent, a highly profitable outcome.
If another campaign produced only 110% ROAS, the business could clearly see which strategy deserves more budget.
Example 1: Local Service Business
A home cleaning business runs Google Ads.
Ad Spend: $650
Ad Revenue: $1,100
ROAS (%) = (1100 ÷ 650) × 100
ROAS (%) = 1.6923 × 100
ROAS (%) = 169.23%
This means for every $100 spent, the business earned $169.23 back.
Example 2: SaaS Company Running PPC Campaigns
A SaaS company runs a month-long paid search campaign targeting free trial signups and upgrades.
Ad Spend: $8,000
Ad Revenue from signups and upgrades: $13,600
ROAS (%) = (13,600 ÷ 8,000) × 100
ROAS (%) = 1.7 × 100
ROAS (%) = 170%
This indicates healthy performance, suggesting retention strategies and funnel optimization may increase long-term profitability further.
Graph: Relationship Between Ad Spend and ROAS
Below is a conceptual graph showing how ROAS generally responds to ad spend changes. This is a simplified theoretical model:
ROAS ^ | * Plateau Zone | * * | * | * | * |*__________________________ Ad Spend
Interpretation:
– At low spend, ROAS may spike due to high efficiency.
– As spend increases, efficiency gradually decreases.
– At saturation, returns may flatten or decline.
This demonstrates why ROAS is vital for scaling decisions.
Table: Example ROAS Scenarios Across Industries
| Industry | Ad Spend | Ad Revenue | ROAS % | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-commerce | 5,000 | 12,500 | 250% | Strong performance |
| SaaS | 8,000 | 13,600 | 170% | Moderate return |
| Local Services | 650 | 1,100 | 169% | Good stability |
| Fashion | 2,200 | 2,640 | 120% | Marginally profitable |
| Mobile Apps | 15,000 | 15,900 | 106% | Barely breaking even |
This table helps illustrate how different industries view ROAS differently. Some require higher ROAS to account for costs such as fulfillment, subscriptions, or inventory.
Interpreting ROAS Results
ROAS is not just a number, its a strategic insight.
Low ROAS (below 100%)
You are losing money on ads.
Revenue < Spend.
Neutral ROAS (100%)
You are breaking even.
Revenue = Spend.
Good ROAS (120% to 300%)
Profitable and scalable depending on costs and margins.
High ROAS (300%+)
Indicates strong campaign targeting, optimized ads, or niche dominance.
Different businesses have different margin requirements, so ROAS targets vary across industries.
Why the Hive ROAS Calculator Stands Out
Uses the standard ROAS formula with precise decimal calculation.
Just two fields. Clear output. Instant results.
Great for:
Media buyers
PPC managers
CMOs
Agencies
Freelancers
Sales forecasting
Budget modeling
Lets you test multiple campaigns instantly.
Diagram: ROAS Calculation Flow
Below is a simple, visual diagram showing how ROAS is calculated:
Ad Spend + Ad Revenue │ ▼ Input into ROAS Calculator │ ▼ (Ad Revenue ÷ Ad Spend) │ ▼ × 100 │ ▼ ROAS Percentage
The Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) — Percentage Calculator from Hive Calculator is an essential tool for anyone engaged in digital advertising, business growth, analytics, or performance marketing. ROAS empowers you to understand exactly how well your ad dollars are working for you, allowing smarter decisions around budgets, creative optimization, audience selection, scaling campaigns, and evaluating marketing strategy.
This calculator — supported by a clean interface, fast calculations, and intuitive design — simplifies the essential task of measuring advertising profitability. By entering your Ad Spend and Ad Revenue, you instantly receive actionable insights. Whether you are managing PPC campaigns, running e-commerce ads, or optimizing SaaS funnels, this tool helps you measure, understand, and improve your advertising performance with precision and confidence.
ROAS measures how effectively your advertising spend is generating revenue. A higher ROAS means your campaign is producing more revenue relative to the cost of ads. This helps you evaluate which marketing channels, ad groups, or creative strategies deliver the most profitable results and which areas may require optimization or reduced spending.
No. ROAS and ROI are related but different metrics. ROAS focuses strictly on revenue generated compared to ad spend, while ROI accounts for all costs of running a business or campaign, including overhead, salaries, product costs, fulfillment, and operational expenses. ROAS is more immediate and tactical, whereas ROI is broader and strategic.
A good ROAS varies depending on your industry, profit margins, and business model. High-margin businesses may thrive at 150–200% ROAS, while low-margin sectors like retail often require 300–500% to remain profitable. Instead of comparing ROAS to a universal benchmark, the most reliable approach is comparing it to your internal target margins and historical performance.
Yes. ROAS is one of the most useful metrics for determining when to scale. If a campaign consistently achieves or exceeds your target ROAS while maintaining stable cost per acquisition, it may be ready for additional budget. If ROAS drops significantly as you increase spend, it may indicate audience saturation or inefficiencies that should be addressed before scaling further.
Attribution plays a major role in how ROAS is calculated. Depending on your analytics setup — last-click, first-click, data-driven attribution, or platform-specific tracking — your revenue numbers may differ. Accurate tracking ensures that the revenue tied to ads is reliable. Poor attribution can lead to inflated or understated ROAS, which may mislead budget and strategy decisions.
About Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). Google Ads Help, Google, https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6268626
Shopify. (n.d.). Understanding return on ad spend (ROAS). Shopify. https://www.shopify.com/blog/roas