Tool
MER Calculator
The blended Marketing Efficiency Ratio every DTC board now tracks. Plug in your numbers and see your MER, breakeven, and target in real time.
New to MER? Read the MER definition
Your numbers
Gap to target: +1.50x
How to Calculate MER
MER = Total Revenue / Total Ad Spend. Example: If you generate $100,000 in revenue from $20,000 in total ad spend, your MER is 5.0. It's the simplest, most honest efficiency metric you can track, total revenue divided by total spend across every ad channel (Meta, Google, TikTok, influencer, affiliate, all of it).
MER = Total Revenue ÷ Total Ad Spend (all channels) Breakeven MER = 1 ÷ Gross Margin Target MER = 1 ÷ (Gross Margin − Target Net Margin) Example: Revenue = $100,000 Spend = $25,000 → MER = 4.0x Gross Margin = 55%, Target Net = 15% Breakeven = 1 / 0.55 = 1.82x Target = 1 / (0.55 − 0.15) = 2.50x
MER vs ROAS. Which Should You Track?
What is MER in marketing?
MER (Marketing Efficiency Ratio) is total revenue divided by total ad spend across every channel. It's the blended, attribution-agnostic version of ROAS, and the metric most DTC and B2C boards now use because click-attribution (Meta and Google ROAS) has become unreliable post-iOS 14.
MER vs ROAS, what's the difference?
ROAS is channel-level and platform-reported (Meta ROAS, Google ROAS). MER is account-level and pulled from your shop. ROAS double-counts conversions across channels; MER does not. Use ROAS for in-platform bidding decisions. Use MER for budget allocation and board reporting.
What is a good MER for DTC ecommerce?
A 'good' MER depends entirely on your gross margin and target net margin. Brands at 60% gross margin commonly target a 3x to 4x MER. Brands at 30% gross margin need closer to 6x to 8x. Don't benchmark MER without anchoring it to your unit economics.
How do I calculate breakeven MER?
Breakeven MER = 1 ÷ Gross Margin. At 50% gross margin, you need 2x MER to cover your COGS. To hit a target net margin, the formula becomes 1 ÷ (Gross Margin − Target Net Margin).
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