Today, where customers expect personalized experiences from brands, it’s even more important to know if marketing efforts are working. In fact, 72% of marketers say measuring ROI is their biggest challenge.
The better ROI can be measured, the easier it is to show that marketing strategies are successful and help the business grow.
For example, after running a campaign, you might notice a 20% increase in sales, which feels great and it might seem like the campaign worked. But how do you know if the campaign is the real reason for the sales boost?
Some sales might have come from loyal customers who were already planning to buy. Others could be from random factors, like seasonal trends or word of mouth. This makes it hard to figure out how much credit the campaign actually deserves.
This is where measuring Marketing ROI (Return on Investment) comes in.
What gets measured, gets managed.
Peter Drucker
Table of Contents
1. The Importance of Accuracy in ROI Measurement
Marketing ROI (Return on Investment) should tell us how much money a campaign made compared to how much it cost. But it’s not always easy to figure out.
For campaigns like Google Ads or email offers, it’s simple. You can see clicks, purchases, or sign-ups directly linked to the campaign. In fact, email marketing usually gives back $42 for every $1 spent.
But, the problem arises when there are campaigns that involve many steps.
Research says most customers need 6-8 interactions with a brand before buying. So, who gets the credit? Was it the ad they saw? The email they opened? Or the website they visited?
Without the right tools, it’s hard to know.
It’s not just about looking at sales numbers; it’s about connecting those numbers to the specific effort you made in the campaign. Without this clarity, you can’t truly know if your campaign worked—or how to improve it next time.
In fact, companies that focus on improving ROI can grow their revenue by up to 10% a year.
This blog will focus on the challenges of measuring Marketing ROI and explore practical solutions to improve it.
2. What Is Marketing ROI?
Marketing Return on Investment (ROI) measures how much revenue a marketing campaign generates compared to its cost. It helps businesses understand if their marketing efforts are profitable and where to invest for better results.
At its simplest, Marketing ROI = (Revenue – Marketing Cost) / Marketing Cost. This calculation provides a percentage that shows how much a company earns for every dollar spent on marketing. A positive ROI means the campaign was profitable, while a negative ROI indicates a loss.

At first, the idea seems simple. The company spends money on marketing, and then they measure how much money they made from those efforts. But, today, marketing rarely fits neatly into this formula.
Why?
It is because customers don’t always follow a predictable path to make a purchase. This is where things get a little complicated.
Measuring Marketing ROI is crucial, but it’s not always straightforward. A 20% increase in sales after a campaign sounds good, but how do you know if it was the campaign’s impact or other factors like loyal customers or seasonal trends?
Attribution is key here — figuring out which marketing efforts contributed to a sale. But in digital marketing, the customer journey is complex, involving many touchpoints like ads, emails, and website visits. Deciding which part of the journey gets credit can be tricky.
Read more – Mastering Marketing Attribution: A Guide to Optimizing Your Campaigns
For example, offering heavy discounts or giving products for free can make ROI seem low, even though the customer’s future value (LTV) could be much higher. This is where the LTV/CAC ratio comes in, providing a better measure of long-term success.
1.1 Why Is Measuring Marketing ROI Difficult?
While the formula for calculating Marketing ROI seems simple, real-world marketing is far more complex. Customers don’t always follow a direct path from seeing an ad to making a purchase. Instead, they engage with multiple marketing channels before deciding to buy.
For example, a potential customer might:
- See a Facebook ad but not take action.
- Visit the company’s website after searching for a product.
- Receive a follow-up email with a discount.
- Click on a WhatsApp message from the brand.
- Finally make a purchase after seeing a Google ad.
With so many touchpoints, how do you determine which marketing effort actually influenced the sale? This challenge makes ROI measurement more than just a formula—it requires a deeper understanding of attribution, campaign goals, and customer behavior.

3. Challenges in Measuring Marketing ROI
Measuring marketing ROI may seem straightforward, but in reality, it comes with several challenges. Customers don’t follow a single, predictable path before making a purchase.
Instead, they interact with multiple marketing channels—digital ads, emails, social media, and even offline touchpoints—making it difficult to pinpoint exactly which effort drove the final conversion.
To accurately assess ROI, businesses must navigate the complexities of attribution, campaign goals, and different marketing channels, each of which presents its own set of challenges.

3.1 Sales vs. Brand Campaigns
Not all marketing campaigns have the same goals, and this impacts how ROI is measured.
- Sales-driven campaigns (Google Ads, email marketing, SMS) are designed to drive immediate conversions. Their ROI is easier to track because clicks and purchases can be directly linked to the campaign.
- Brand awareness campaigns (TV ads, sponsorships, influencer marketing) focus on increasing visibility and trust. Their ROI is harder to measure since the impact is long-term and does not always lead to immediate sales.
For example, a company running a TV ad campaign may notice an increase in website traffic over time, but it is difficult to directly attribute this increase to the TV ad.
3.2 Digital vs. Non-Digital Campaigns
ROI measurement is also influenced by whether a campaign is digital or non-digital:
- Digital campaigns (search ads, social media, email) allow precise tracking using tools like UTM parameters, Google Analytics, and attribution models.
- Non-digital campaigns (TV, print, billboards) do not have direct tracking mechanisms, making it harder to attribute sales directly to a specific campaign.
For example, if a business runs a billboard ad, it may see a rise in sales, but it is difficult to determine whether those sales were due to the billboard or other marketing efforts.
Read more – The Foundation of Marketing Attribution: Understanding UTM Parameters
4. Attribution Complexity & The Role of Attribution Windows
Marketing ROI measurement becomes more complex when customers interact with multiple marketing channels before making a purchase.
A customer might:
See a social media ad
Visit the website
Read your blog
Open a retargeting email
Click on a WhatsApp message and then purchase

So, which marketing effort gets credit for the sale?
First-Touch Attribution: The first interaction (e.g., social media ad) gets full credit.
Last-Touch Attribution: The final touchpoint before purchase (e.g., WhatsApp message) gets full credit.
Multi-Touch Attribution: Credit is shared across multiple interactions.
4.1 The Importance of Attribution Windows
An attribution window is the period in which a marketing effort is credited for a sale. Choosing the right attribution window is critical for accurate ROI measurement.
Short attribution windows (1-3 days): Used for campaigns with immediate impact like email, SMS, and push notifications.
Long attribution windows (weeks or months): Used for brand awareness campaigns where the impact unfolds over time.
For example, if an email campaign was sent today and a customer buys after 5 days, should the email get credit? Setting the right attribution window ensures that ROI measurement is fair and accurate.
Read more – Mastering Marketing Attribution: A Guide to Optimizing Your Campaigns
Today, customers interact with your brand across multiple channels before making a purchase. A single customer might:
- See a display ad.
- Visit your website.
- Read your blog.
- Open a retargeting email.
- Finally, buy after clicking a search ad.
To manage this complexity, marketers use different attribution models like:
- First-Touch Attribution: Credits the first interaction (e.g., a display ad).
- Last-Touch Attribution: Credits the final action before purchase (e.g., a retargeting email).
- Multi-Touch Attribution: Distributes credit across all touchpoints (e.g., display ad, blog visit, and email).
5. Types of Conversion Tracking in ROI Measurement
To measure ROI effectively, marketers use different types of conversion tracking:
Sent-Through Conversion: Counts all recipients of a campaign, regardless of whether they engaged.
View-Through Conversion: Counts users who viewed a campaign but did not click, yet later made a purchase.
Click-Through Conversion: Counts only users who clicked and purchased (most accurate).
For direct sales campaigns, click-through attribution is ideal. For brand awareness campaigns, view-through attribution is more useful.
6. How To Improve Marketing ROI Measurement?
To make ROI measurement practical and actionable, consider these steps:

- Define Campaign Goals: For direct-response campaigns, focus on short-term metrics like clicks and conversions. For brand campaigns, track long-term metrics such as brand lift or awareness.
- Use UTM Tags: Tag your digital campaigns to track performance across all channels. (Read more – The Foundation of Marketing Attribution: Understanding UTM Parameters)
- Experiment with Attribution Models: Start with Last-Touch Attribution for simplicity. Gradually explore Multi-Touch models as your tracking improves. (Read more – Mastering Marketing Attribution: A Guide to Optimizing Your Campaigns)
- Optimize Timeframes: Test and refine your attribution windows based on customer behavior.
- Account for Offline Impact: Use surveys, unique codes, or CRM data to link offline marketing efforts to sales.
7. Conclusion
Marketing ROI is more than a metric; it’s your guide to smarter marketing investments. While challenges like attribution, timing, and indirect effects can complicate the process, they also open doors to better insights.
Start simple:
- Track your campaigns.
- Use attribution models that fit your goals.
- Experiment and refine over time.
With consistent effort, you’ll gain a clearer picture of what’s driving results—and where to invest for maximum growth.
Hope this blog gives you a detailed idea on Marketing ROI and its key components that you can similarly apply and integrate in your marketing strategy as well.
If you want to establish marketing ROI and its strategy as a practice, feel free to consult with us at alibha@daiom.in
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