Marketing Guides
Understand your ad budget, the costs behind a customer, and the return your spending brings in.
Start with these core concepts. Dollar examples below are hypothetical U.S. examples, not benchmarks or promised results.
Ad budgets: set a limit before spending
Choose an amount your business can afford to test. Decide what outcome you will measure and when you will review it. Separate media spending from creative, software, and management costs.
Hypothetical example: a $900 media budget across 30 days averages $30 a day. Actual daily spending may vary by platform and campaign settings.
ROAS: revenue relative to ad spend
Return on ad spend equals attributed revenue divided by ad spend. Hypothetical example: $3,000 in attributed revenue from $1,000 in ads gives a 3× ROAS. That is not the same as profit: product costs, refunds, and other expenses still matter.
CAC: the cost of acquiring a customer
Customer acquisition cost equals acquisition spending divided by new customers acquired. Define which sales and marketing costs you include, and use a consistent time period.
Hypothetical example: $2,400 in acquisition costs divided by 20 new customers gives a CAC of $120.
CPC: what each click costs
Cost per click equals ad spend divided by clicks. Hypothetical example: $450 spent on 300 clicks gives a CPC of $1.50. A cheaper click is not necessarily a more valuable visit.
Software comparisons: compare the full cost
Start with the job you need a tool to do. Compare reporting, integrations, usage limits, data exports, support, and cancellation terms—not just the advertised monthly price.
Hypothetical example: a $49 monthly plan and a $39 plan billed annually have different cash commitments. Check the total bill, required add-ons, and current terms before deciding.