How Much Should you Spend on Ads?

Our interactive ad-spend calculator will give you an idea what ROI to expect based on your projected ad spend, your businesses historical conversion rates, and the average costs associated with pay-per-click advertising.  We’ve also included benchmark reports which show average costs and conversion rates across a number of different industries.

Projected Monthly Ad-Spend Budget

How much should you be spending a month on digital ads?
If you don’t spend on ads already, just test out a number – 10% of your total marketing budget is a good place to start. Once you’ve entered all other metrics, come back to budget to see how it affects profit.

2000

100

50k

Expected Cost-per-Click (CPC)

How much are you willing to pay for a click?
Depending on the ad network and audience,  businesses can expect cost-per-click to range from $2-$15 or more. See below for help estimating your CPC for search ads.

2.5

0.1

50

Target Conversion Rate

How often does a visitor convert into a lead on your website?
A conversion rate of 2-4% makes sense for the average consulting business. eCommerce can vary between .5% and 3% for non-niche products. See below for more info on conversion rates.

3.0

0.1

50

Average Conversion Revenue

On average, how valuable is a single customer?
For many businesses, this number may vary or increase over time. Test different options, such as a new customer vs. the lifetime value of a customer.

2500

100

100k

Lead to Customer Rate

What percentage of your leads turn into paying customers?
This is critical to monitor. Increasing lead to customer rate can drastically improve the ROI of your ads. The written copy on your website is especially important for this.

10

1

90

Results

Number of Clicks

800

Number of Leads

24

Cost-Per-Lead

83

Value of a Lead

250

Expected Revenue

6,000

Expected Profit

4,000

Return on Ad Spend

200

Cost-per-Click (CPC) Benchmarks

Industry Average CPC (Search Ads) Average CPC (Display Ads)
 Advocacy $1.43 $0.62
 Auto $2.46 $0.58
 B2B $3.33 $0.79
 Consumer Services $6.40 $0.81
 Dating & Personals $2.78 $1.49
 E-Commerce $1.16 $0.45
 Education $2.40 $0.47
 Employment Services $2.04 $0.78
 Finance & Insurance $3.44 $0.86
 Health & Medical $2.62 $0.63
 Home Goods $2.94 $0.60
 Industrial Services $2.56 $0.54
 Legal $6.75 $ 0.72
 Real Estate $2.37 $0.75
 Technology $3.80 $0.51
 Travel & Hospitality $1.53 $0.44

Conversion Rate Benchmarks

Industry Average CVR (Search Ads) Average CVR (Display Ads)
 Advocacy 1.96% 1.00%
 Auto 6.03% 1.19%
 B2B 3.04% 0.80%
 Consumer Services 6.64% 0.98%
 Dating & Personals 9.64% 3.34%
 E-Commerce 2.81% 0.59%
 Education 3.39% 0.50%
 Employment Services 5.13% 1.57%
 Finance & Insurance 5.10% 1.19%
 Health & Medical 3.36% 0.82%
 Home Goods 2.70% 0.43%
 Industrial Services 3.37% 0.94%
 Legal 6.98% 1.84%
 Real Estate 2.47% 0.80%
 Technology 2.92% 0.86%
 Travel & Hospitality 3.55% 0.51%

Cost-Per-Action Benchmark*

Industry Average CPA(Search Ads) Average CPA (Display Ads)
 Advocacy $96.55 $70.69
 Auto $33.52 $23.68
 B2B $116.13 $130.36
 Consumer Services $90.70 $60.48
 Dating & Personals $76.76 $60.23
 E-Commerce $45.27 $65.80
 Education $72.72 $143.36
 Employment Services $48.04 $59.47
 Finance & Insurance $81.93 $56.76
 Health & Medical $78.09 $72.58
 Home Goods $87.13 $116.17
 Industrial Services $79.28 $51.58
 Legal $86.02 $39.52
 Real Estate $116.61 $74.79
 Technology $133.52 $103.60
 Travel & Hospitality $44.73 $99.13

*Sometimes known as cost-per-acquisition. CPA is the cost associated with a specific desired action, such as a purchase or contact form submission.