Marketing ROI Calculator
See your projected return from marketing automation in 30 seconds. Based on your audience size, AOV, and a conservative conversion-lift assumption you can adjust.
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Estimated impact
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How the math works
Everything below is the actual math the calculator runs. We show our work because no ROI projection is trustworthy without it. If any assumption looks wrong for your business, change the inputs above — or treat this as a starting point and apply your own benchmarks.
Step 1: Baseline revenue per subscriber
We start from a conservative cross-industry baseline of $0.30 per subscriber per month. This is a deliberately low anchor — high-performing ecommerce email programs can reach $1.50+, while early-stage SaaS programs are often closer to $0.05. Picking the floor avoids overstating the result.
baseline = audienceSize × $0.30
Step 2: Adjust for AOV
The baseline assumes an AOV of $50. If your AOV is higher, you generate more revenue per conversion; if lower, less. The model scales linearly:
currentRevenue = baseline × (yourAOV / $50)
Step 3: Apply your conversion-lift assumption
You set the lift slider. Most marketing automation programs report 15–30% lift in year one over manual or fragmented setups. The default of 20% is a typical case; use 5–10% if you're skeptical, or 40–60% if you have strong evidence (e.g., a prior PolarGX deployment, a benchmark from a comparable team).
liftedRevenue = currentRevenue × (1 + lift%) monthlyLift = liftedRevenue − currentRevenue
Step 4: Compute ROI multiple and payback
Annualize the monthly lift, divide by the plan's annual cost (yearly billing rate). Payback period is plan annual cost ÷ 12 ÷ monthly lift.
annualLift = monthlyLift × 12 annualROI = annualLift / annualCost paybackMonths = (annualCost / 12) / monthlyLift
Why these results are estimates, not facts
- Cross-industry baselines hide real variation — a single high-performing list can materially outperform a much larger generic list.
- The lift slider is your assumption, not ours. We don't guarantee any percentage of lift; vendor outcomes depend on your audience, message, and execution.
- The model ignores ramp-up time, deliverability variance, and seasonality — all of which compound across the first 6 months of a new program.
- We deliberately picked a conservative baseline to avoid inflating results. If your program is already mature, the calculator may understate your real lift.
How this compares to other ROI tools
Most ROI calculators either gate the formula behind a form or show a single black-box number. We took a different approach.
Frequently asked questions
What is marketing ROI?
Marketing ROI is the revenue generated by marketing activity divided by the cost of those activities, expressed as a multiple or percentage. A 3x ROI means every dollar spent generated three dollars in revenue. ROI is the most direct way to compare marketing investments — channels, tools, or campaigns — against each other.
How is marketing ROI calculated?
The standard formula is: ROI = (Revenue from marketing − Cost of marketing) ÷ Cost of marketing. To project ROI for a new tool, estimate the additional revenue the tool will generate (over a baseline) and divide by the tool's annual cost. Use conservative assumptions and label results as estimates, not guarantees.
What is a good marketing ROI?
For email marketing, a typical benchmark is 4x-5x ROI; high-performing programs can reach 10x or more. For broader marketing automation across channels, 3x-5x is a common target in year one. Lower than 2x usually indicates the wrong tool or wrong audience-message fit. Industry, audience size, and AOV all materially shift what counts as "good".
How accurate are these projections?
These are directional estimates based on the inputs you provide and conservative cross-industry baselines. Actual outcomes vary substantially by industry, audience quality, message-product fit, and execution. Treat the numbers as a starting point for evaluation, not a forecast or guarantee. The "How the math works" section below shows every assumption used.
What ROI tracking software do solopreneurs and small teams need?
Solo and small-team marketers typically need: (1) attribution that connects email/SMS/social activity to revenue, (2) a simple revenue-per-subscriber view, (3) a way to compare campaigns against each other. PolarGX includes all three in the Growth tier. Larger teams add multi-touch attribution and data-warehouse sync, available on Scale and Enterprise tiers.
How does this calculator compare to Exclaimer ROI Calculator or other tools?
Exclaimer's calculator focuses on the ROI of email signature marketing — a narrow channel. This calculator estimates the broader marketing-automation ROI across email, SMS, and other channels, anchored to your real audience size and AOV. We made the math transparent rather than hiding it inside the tool, so you can sanity-check every number.
Can I export or share these results?
You can copy the link with your inputs preserved (coming soon), or enter your email below for a PDF report with charts, methodology, and a 90-day implementation plan tailored to the inputs you used. We do not sell or share your email — see our privacy policy.
Run the numbers, then run the program
The calculator is the easy part. PolarGX is what makes the projected lift real — AI agents that orchestrate email, SMS, and journey automation, with revenue attribution that proves what worked.
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