Marketing ROI: Google Ads 300% ROI vs Facebook Ads 50% = Defund Facebook
Monthly ad spend: Google SGD 10K → SGD 30K revenue (SGD 20K profit at 40% margin) = 200% ROI. Facebook SGD 10K → SGD 5K revenue (SGD 2K profit) = -80% loss. TikTok SGD 5K → SGD 12K revenue (SGD 4.8K profit) = 96% ROI. Blended: SGD 25K spend → SGD 47K revenue → SGD 26.8K profit = 107% ROI. Optimization: cut Facebook (negative), increase Google and TikTok (positive). New allocation: Google SGD 12K, TikTok SGD 8K, Facebook SGD 0 = projected +SGD 8K monthly profit.
- Calculating Marketing ROI Per Channel
- Attribution Challenges
- Channel ROI Variation
- AskBiz Marketing ROI Dashboard
- Profit-Based ROI vs Revenue-Based ROI: Why the Distinction Matters
Calculating Marketing ROI Per Channel#
ROI = (Revenue - Spend) ÷ Spend × 100%. Example: Google Ads spend SGD 10K, attributed revenue SGD 30K. ROI = (SGD 30K - SGD 10K) ÷ SGD 10K × 100% = 200%. But: revenue includes COGS cost. Better: ROI on profit. Revenue SGD 30K × 40% margin = SGD 12K profit. ROI = (SGD 12K - SGD 10K) ÷ SGD 10K = 20% (more realistic).
Attribution Challenges#
Hard to track: which ad led to sale (customer saw Google ad, then Facebook ad, then referral). Solutions: (1) Last-click attribution (give credit to last ad), (2) first-click (first ad), (3) multi-touch (distribute). AskBiz typically uses last-click (conservative, credited to channel customer used to convert).
Channel ROI Variation#
Google Ads (search): 150-300% ROI (intent-based, buyer-ready). Facebook (social): 50-200% ROI (awareness-based, varies by audience). TikTok: 75-250% ROI (trend-based, viral). Email: 400-800% ROI (existing customers, cheap). Organic (content): 500%+ ROI (free, but slow scale).
AskBiz Marketing ROI Dashboard#
Tracks spend and revenue by channel, calculates ROI. "Google Ads: SGD 10K spend, SGD 30K revenue, 200% ROI. Facebook: SGD 10K spend, SGD 5K revenue, -50% ROI (loss). TikTok: SGD 5K spend, SGD 12K revenue, 140% ROI. Recommendation: defund Facebook, reallocate to Google/TikTok. Projected impact: +SGD 8K monthly profit."
Profit-Based ROI vs Revenue-Based ROI: Why the Distinction Matters#
Revenue-based ROI is the number most dashboards show by default, but it overstates true return because it ignores COGS. The correct formula for decision-making is profit-based ROI = (Revenue × Gross Margin % − Ad Spend) ÷ Ad Spend. A channel showing 200% revenue-based ROI on a low-margin product (say 20% margin) is actually only (SGD 30K × 0.20 − SGD 10K) ÷ SGD 10K = -40% on a profit basis — a loss-making channel dressed up as a winner by the revenue number. Always calculate both, but make budget decisions on profit-based ROI, especially when comparing channels that sell different product mixes with different margins. A channel selling high-margin add-ons will look worse on revenue ROI than one selling high-volume low-margin staples, even if the margin channel is more profitable per dollar spent.
Worked Example: The Attribution Trap That Nearly Killed a Good Channel#
A Singapore skincare brand used last-click attribution and saw Facebook Ads underperforming at 40% revenue ROI versus Google Search at 180%. Digging into the customer journey data (available because AskBiz tracked first-touch alongside last-click), it turned out 60% of Google Search conversions had first been introduced to the brand via a Facebook ad three weeks earlier — Facebook was doing the awareness work, Google was capturing the intent-driven purchase and getting all the attribution credit. Cutting Facebook based on last-click ROI alone would have starved the top of the funnel that Google conversions depended on. Switching to a blended attribution view (50% credit to first-touch channel, 50% to last-click) showed Facebook's true contribution-adjusted ROI was closer to 95%, not 40% — a materially different number that changed the budget decision from "cut Facebook" to "keep Facebook, optimize creative."
Common Mistakes in Channel ROI Analysis#
The first mistake is using last-click attribution exclusively for every decision, which systematically undervalues awareness channels (social, display, content) that introduce customers who convert later through a different, often cheaper channel. The second is judging a new channel on the same timeline as a mature one — a channel needs time to optimize targeting and creative, and cutting it after 2-4 weeks of below-target ROI often kills a channel just as it was starting to learn. The third is ignoring seasonality when comparing month-to-month ROI — a channel that looks worse in a slow month may simply reflect lower overall demand, not a channel problem, and comparing against the same month last year is often more reliable than comparing against last month. AskBiz tracks both last-click and multi-touch attribution side by side so a channel doing genuine awareness work doesn't get defunded based on an incomplete picture.
People also ask
Should I always cut negative-ROI channels?
Not immediately. Could be: (1) brand building (loss leader), (2) first-impression channel (leads to other channels for conversion), (3) new channel (needs time to optimize). If negative >3 months and no other value: cut.
How do I improve channel ROI?
Better targeting (narrow audience), better creative (test variations), better landing page (improve conversion), better offer (increase AOV). Each lever improves revenue without increasing spend.
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Track Marketing ROI by Channel (Cut Losers, Double Winners)
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