Free marketing & patients tool
Marketing ROI Calculator and Budget Planner
Marketing ROI is the profit your marketing earned minus what it cost, divided by what it cost. Use gross profit from the new patients it brought in, not revenue. $18,000 of spend that brings 30 patients worth $1,200 each at a 60% margin earns $21,600 of gross profit, a net of $3,600 and an ROI of 20%.
Prepared by Prospyr · Reviewed October 3, 2026 · Free, no sign-up, runs in your browser
SEO and content often need 6 to 12 months to show up.
Website build, photo shoot, setup fees.
Only patients you can tie to it.
First year of revenue is a safe window.
Marketing ROI (on gross profit)
20%
Gross profit above spend: $3,600.
Total spend
$18,000
Revenue
$36,000
Gross profit
$21,600
Revenue-based ROI
100%
(revenue − spend) ÷ spend
Cost per new patient
$600
Patients to break even
25
Marketing ROI formula
- Total spend: monthly spend × months + one-time costs
- Gross profit: new patients × revenue per patient × gross margin
- Marketing ROI: (gross profit − total spend) ÷ total spend
- Revenue-based ROI: (revenue − total spend) ÷ total spend
- Break-even patients: total spend ÷ gross profit per patient, rounded up
Marketing research frames spend as an allocation across acquiring, retaining and growing customers, so the best test is whether the profit a patient brings exceeds what it cost to win them.
Worked example: six months of marketing
| Line | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Total spend | $3,000 × 6 months | $18,000 |
| Revenue | 30 patients × $1,200 | $36,000 |
| Gross profit | $36,000 × 60% | $21,600 |
| Net | $21,600 − $18,000 | $3,600 |
| Marketing ROI | $3,600 ÷ $18,000 | 20% |
| Revenue-based ROI | ($36,000 − $18,000) ÷ $18,000 | 100% |
| Patients to break even | $18,000 ÷ $720 | 25 |
The revenue-based figure looks five times better than the profit-based one. That gap is why the calculator leads with gross profit.
Marketing budget as a share of revenue
Switch to the budget planner to turn a percentage of revenue into a yearly and monthly budget. Enter your own acquisition cost and it also shows how many new patients that budget could support. We do not give a recommended percentage, because the right share depends on how fast you want to grow, your margins and how well your channels already convert.
To find your acquisition cost, use the CAC calculator. To check one ad channel, use the ROAS calculator. Knowing where each patient came from is what makes any ROI figure believable, and Prospyr analytics is built for that reporting.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate marketing ROI?
Subtract total marketing cost from the gross profit the marketing produced, then divide by the total cost. With $21,600 of gross profit and $18,000 of cost, (21,600 − 18,000) ÷ 18,000 = 20%. Using gross profit instead of revenue keeps the cost of delivering the service in the picture.
What is the difference between marketing ROI and ROAS?
ROAS divides revenue by ad spend and ignores everything else. Marketing ROI uses profit and counts all marketing costs, such as agency fees and setup. A campaign can show a strong ROAS and still lose money once margin and fees are counted. The calculator shows a revenue-based ROI too so you can compare with simpler reports.
How do I calculate SEO ROI?
Use the same formula over a longer period. Enter the monthly SEO fee, set months to 12 or more, add any one-time cost such as a website rebuild, and enter the new patients you can tie to organic search. SEO usually costs more than it returns in the early months, so measuring over too short a window understates it.
How much should a practice spend on marketing?
There is no single right share of revenue, and published figures vary widely by business and stage. Use the budget planner to see what a percentage you choose means in dollars per month and how many new patients it could support at your own acquisition cost, then adjust from your results.
Should I count lifetime value in the ROI?
You can, and it will make most marketing look better. For a careful view, run the calculator once with first-year revenue per patient, and again with your lifetime value figure, and treat the second as an estimate. The patient lifetime value calculator gives you that number.
How many patients do I need to break even?
Divide total spend by gross profit per new patient and round up. $18,000 of spend and $720 of gross profit per patient ($1,200 × 60%) means 25 patients. The calculator shows this as patients to break even, so you can check it against what the channel has delivered.
Sources and scope
- Gupta S, et al. Modeling Customer Lifetime Value. Journal of Service Research, 2006;9(2):139-155
Peer-reviewed. Reviews models used for the allocation of marketing resources for acquisition, retention and cross-selling.
- Understand your conversion tracking data. Google Ads Help
Google's 'conversion value per cost' (conversion value ÷ cost), the revenue-to-spend ratio behind ROAS.
Planning math from the numbers you enter, not financial advice. ROI depends on how well new patients are attributed to the marketing, which you control.