Digital marketing with ROI: ROAS, CAC, CTR and UTMs done right

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Paying for ads without measuring is donating to Google and Meta. Four metrics decide scale: ROAS, CAC, CTR and well-built UTMs.

Open ROAS calculator →

1. ROAS

ROAS = revenue / ad spend. USD 1,000 → USD 4,000 = 4x.

  • ROAS < 2: likely loss at normal margins.
  • 3–5: healthy ecommerce.
  • >5: scale.

ROAS ≠ profit. Subtract product cost and overhead.

2. CAC

CAC = total marketing + sales / new customers. Compare with LTV — healthy LTV/CAC ≥ 3.

3. CTR

  • FB/IG feed: 1–2% normal, >3% great.
  • Google Search: 3–5% competitive, >10% brand.
  • Display: 0.05–0.1%.

Low CTR with reach = weak creative. High CTR + low conversion = weak landing.

4. UTM

  • utm_source: platform.
  • utm_medium: type.
  • utm_campaign: internal name.
  • utm_content: creative variant.
  • utm_term: keyword.

5. Common errors

  1. Cross-platform ROAS without funnel normalization.
  2. Last-click attribution overweights closers.
  3. Short conversion windows for high-ticket items.
  4. Using gross instead of net revenue.

6. Reporting

Revenue, spend, ROAS, CAC, LTV/CAC, payback. Payback < 12 months healthy.

7. Related