Calculate your Marketing Efficiency Ratio and see how it compares to industry benchmarks.
Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER) is total revenue divided by total ad spend. It’s the single metric your finance team actually trusts because it uses real numbers from your bank account, not platform-reported attributions that double-count conversions.
MER = Total Revenue ÷ Total Ad Spend
A MER of 5.0x means for every $1 you spend on ads, your business generates $5 in total revenue. This includes organic, direct, repeat customers — everything. That’s why it’s more honest than channel-specific ROAS.
| Vertical | Strong MER | Average MER | Needs Work |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apparel & Fashion | 6.0x+ | 3.5–6.0x | <3.5x |
| Health & Wellness | 5.0x+ | 3.0–5.0x | <3.0x |
| Beauty & Skincare | 5.5x+ | 3.5–5.5x | <3.5x |
| Home Goods | 5.0x+ | 3.0–5.0x | <3.0x |
| Food & Beverage | 4.0x+ | 2.5–4.0x | <2.5x |
Platform ROAS tells you what Meta or Google claims they drove. MER tells you what your business actually earned relative to total marketing investment. When platforms double-count conversions, MER stays honest because it uses your actual revenue.
Want to know what’s actually driving your MER? A custom MMM decomposes your MER into channel-by-channel contributions, showing exactly which channels deserve more budget and which are wasting spend.