Facebook ads ROAS calculator
Find out what your Facebook and Instagram ads are really worth. Put in your spend, what a lead costs and what a job is worth, and see the leads, jobs and return you can expect.
- Free
- No sign up
- Works on your phone
These are example numbers. Change them to yours.
How to use it
- Put in your numbersWhat you spend on ads, what a lead costs you, how many leads turn into jobs and what a job is worth.
- Read your returnSee the leads, jobs and revenue that spend brings in, and how much comes back for every £1.
- Try a few what ifsChange one number at a time. A cheaper lead or one more job in ten can change the whole picture.
What ROAS means
ROAS stands for return on ad spend. It’s the money your ads bring in, divided by what you paid for them. A ROAS of 5 means every £1 you put into Facebook and Instagram brought £5 of work back.
ROAS = revenue from the ads ÷ ad spend
For a service business, the revenue is the jobs your enquiries turned into. So the calculator works it out the way the money actually flows: spend buys leads, some leads become jobs, and jobs bring in revenue.
Is my ROAS good?
That depends on your margin, not on anyone else’s numbers. If you keep 40% of every job, a ROAS of 2.5 is where the ads exactly pay for themselves. Below it you’re losing money on the ads; above it they’re making you money.
Break even ROAS = 1 ÷ your profit margin
The calculator also shows the most a lead can cost before the ads stop paying. It’s a handy number to keep in your head when you look at Ads Manager.
Why your real return is often different
The sum above is the simple version. In real life a few things change it:
- Leads that go cold. An enquiry nobody rings back quickly often books with someone else. The missed leads calculator shows what that costs.
- Leads you can’t trace. If your website tracking isn’t set up, you can’t tell which ads brought the work. Run your site through the Facebook Pixel checker.
- Customers who come back. A happy customer who books again or refers a friend makes the first lead worth far more than one job.
How to get more back from the same spend
There are only three numbers you can move: what a lead costs, how many leads become jobs, and what a job is worth.
- Cheaper leads come from ads that show your real work and a clear offer, aimed at the area you actually cover.
- More leads becoming jobs comes from getting back to people fast and following up the ones who go quiet.
- Bigger jobs come from offering the add ons people already ask about, right there in the quote.
That’s the whole system we build for clients. See how we run Facebook and Instagram ads for service businesses.
Questions people ask
What is a good ROAS for Facebook ads?
There isn’t one number that suits every business, because a good return depends on how much of each job you keep. The figure to know is your break even ROAS: 1 divided by your profit margin. Keep 40% of each job and your ads pay for themselves at a ROAS of 2.5, so anything above that is making you money. Add your margin to the calculator and it works this out for you.
How do I work out my cost per lead?
Divide what you spent on ads by the number of enquiries you got from them over the same period. Ads Manager shows it as cost per result when your campaign is set up for leads. If you don’t know yet, put in a guess, then come back with real numbers after a few weeks.
Is ROAS the same as ROI?
No. ROAS only compares the money a job brings in with what you spent on ads. ROI also takes off everything else the job costs you, like materials, wages and your time. That’s why the calculator asks for your margin: with it, you also see the profit left after the ads are paid for.
How much should I spend on Facebook ads?
Work back from the jobs you want. Switch the calculator to “What should I spend?”, put in how many jobs you want a month, and it tells you the leads you need and the budget to buy them at your cost per lead.
Why is my ROAS in Ads Manager different?
Ads Manager can only count sales it can see online. For most service businesses the sale happens later, on the phone or after a quote, so Ads Manager never sees it. To know your real return, every enquiry needs to go into a CRM and be marked when it turns into a job.
More free tools
See all 7 tools →Want your ads to pay their way?
We run Facebook and Instagram ads for service businesses, with every enquiry tracked in a CRM so you can see what it turned into.
You speak to Maciej, our founder, not a salesperson Thanks, we’ve got your enquiry.
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