ROI Return on Investment Calculator

Enter revenue and various costs to calculate overall project or campaign return on investment.

Suitable For：Marketing、PR、Campaign｜Metric Type：ROI
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Cost Calculation Method (choose one)

You can fill in itemized costs separately or enter total cost directly. If total cost filled, itemized costs above will be ignored.

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If total cost already calculated, fill here directly; system will ignore itemized costs above.

Result: Awaiting Input
Please enter total revenue and cost information above, then click "Calculate" to see results here.

How to Use This Calculator

This tool helps you quickly calculate project, campaign, or marketing plan return on investment (ROI). Simply enter revenue and costs to determine profitability and profit amount.

  1. Step 1:Enter "Total Revenue / Total Returns" (total income from project or campaign).
  2. Step 2:Choose cost calculation method: (A) Fill in product cost, ad cost, other costs separately, or (B) Enter total cost directly.
  3. Step 3:Click "Calculate" button.
  4. Step 4:View calculation results, including ROI multiplier, percentage, net profit, and profitability status.

What is ROI (Return on Investment)?

ROI (Return on Investment) is "return on investment," used to evaluate whether an investment is worthwhile. Higher ROI means greater cost recovery and profit. Positive ROI means profitable, negative ROI means loss. ROI is one of the most common effectiveness metrics for businesses, marketers, and project managers.

Calculation Formulas

1. Net Profit Calculation

Net Profit = Total Revenue − Total Cost

Example: Total revenue $500K, total cost $250K, Net Profit = 50 − 25 = $250K

2. ROI Multiplier Calculation

ROI (multiplier) = Net Profit ÷ Total Cost

Example: Net profit $250K, total cost $250K, ROI = 25 ÷ 25 = 1.0x

3. ROI Percentage Calculation

ROI (%) = ROI (multiplier) × 100

Example: ROI multiplier 1.0, ROI (%) = 1.0 × 100 = 100%

Why is ROI Important?

ROI is a key metric for evaluating investment effectiveness, whether for marketing campaigns, product development, trade show participation, or employee training, all can use ROI to determine worthiness of investment. Below are ROI's importance:

  • Determine Project Profitability:ROI > 0 means profitable, ROI < 0 means loss.
  • Compare Different Plans' Effectiveness:If multiple marketing plans exist, can use ROI to compare which has highest returns.
  • Optimize Resource Allocation:Invest budget in high-ROI projects, reduce spending on low-ROI projects.
  • Convince Executives and Investors:ROI is most intuitive effectiveness metric, convenient for reporting upward and securing budget.
  • Long-term Performance Tracking:Regularly calculate ROI to understand if project or campaign effectiveness improves over time.

Common Usage Scenarios

Below are typical ROI calculator application scenarios:

  • Marketing Campaign Evaluation:A Facebook ad campaign spent $100K, generated $300K revenue, minus product cost $120K, calculate if ROI is worthwhile.
  • Trade Show / Event Investment Evaluation:Attending trade show cost $200K (booth fees, labor, materials), generated $500K orders, calculate if worthwhile to participate.
  • Product Development Investment Evaluation:Developing new product cost $1M (R&D, marketing, production), expected $3M revenue, calculate investment returns.
  • Employee Training Evaluation:Invested $50K training employees, improved performance generating $150K additional revenue, calculate training ROI.
  • Content Marketing Evaluation:Creating blog article and video series cost $80K, generated $200K orders, calculate content marketing ROI.

Related Terms

ROI (Return on Investment)
Return on investment, measures investment profitability. ROI = (revenue − cost) ÷ cost.
Profit
Net income after deducting all costs from total revenue. Profit = revenue − cost.
Net Profit
Same as profit, refers to final profit after deducting all costs.
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
Return on ad spend, only looks at ad spend returns. ROAS = revenue ÷ ad cost. Unlike ROI, ROAS doesn't deduct product cost and other expenses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is a good ROI?

A: Generally, ROI > 0 means profitable, ROI > 1 (i.e., 100%) means earning back more than cost. Different industries have different ROI standards: low-margin industries (like retail) may consider ROI 0.2-0.5 reasonable, high-margin industries (like software, courses) expect ROI > 2. Key is ROI must cover opportunity cost and risk.

Q: What's the difference between ROI and ROAS?

A: ROI looks at "overall investment profitability," formula (revenue − all costs) ÷ all costs. ROAS only looks at "direct ad spend returns," formula revenue ÷ ad cost. ROAS suitable for evaluating ad effectiveness, ROI suitable for evaluating overall project or business profitability.

Q: What if ROI is negative?

A: Negative ROI means loss (total cost > total revenue). Should review: (1) Is cost too high? Can it be reduced? (2) Is revenue too low? How to increase? (3) Is continued investment worthwhile? Should project be stopped? (4) If long-term investment (like brand building, market education), short-term negative ROI is normal, should evaluate by long-term benefits.

Q: What is this calculator suitable for calculating?

A: This calculator suitable for calculating any project with "clear revenue and costs," such as: marketing campaigns, trade shows, product development, employee training, content marketing, equipment investment. However, if project benefits cannot be quantified monetarily (like brand awareness, employee satisfaction), need to combine with other metrics (like NPS, brand surveys) for evaluation.