Marketer's calculators: six calculations that can be done in a minute

Most of a marketer's everyday questions come down to six calculations. Each one takes a minute, and each one is regularly done wrong - not in the arithmetic, but in choosing which question counts.

You need to count not what you got, but what you can afford. The first is a report, the second is a decision.

1. Six calculations and their questions

2. The main calculation is acceptable, not actual

The actual CPA shows how much you are paying. Acceptable - how much you can pay to make the economy converge. The second is more useful, and is almost never considered in advance.

The logic is this: we subtract the cost and variable costs from the price, and get a margin on sales. We multiply by the conversion from action to sale - we get how much one target action brings on average. This is the maximum allowable CPA.

Then the decision is made instantly: the actual CPA is above the ceiling - the channel is unprofitable, and no amount of creative optimization will change this.

3. Break-even point depends on margin

A common confusion: ROAS 300% is perceived as a good result in general. In fact, it means different things at different margins.

With high margins, this ROAS leaves a profit. If it is low, it may not even cover the cost of what is sold. Therefore, the first step is to consider the break-even value for a particular business, and only then the actual ROAS is compared with it.

This is one of the reasons why other people's ROAS benchmarks are of limited use: they don't know your margins.

4. CPL and CPA: not synonyms

CPL calculates the cost of a lead - a person who left a contact. CPA calculates the cost of a target action, which can be anything: application, registration, purchase.

The practical difference is where the sales team's conversion rates stand. A channel with a cheap CPL and low conversion gives an expensive client, and this is not visible from the CPL. Analysis of the bunch - in the article about CPL, CAC and LTV.

5. Two calculations that need history

LTV to CAC and unit economics require data about what happens to the customer after the first purchase. Without them, both calculations turn into a forecast.

The minimum horizon is three months, six is better. It is calculated by cohorts: the accumulated revenue per client by the third month is money that has already happened. Mechanics - in analysis of cohort analysis, file - in cohort template.

6. A result without a point of comparison means nothing.

CPL of six thousand rubles - is it a lot or a little? The answer depends on the niche and the check, and without a benchmark the figure cannot be interpreted.

Standards for the Russian market are collected on the pages benchmarks: CPC in Direct, CPL in B2B, landing page conversion, ROAS in e-com, LTV to CAC in SaaS, open rate in email. Each page has sources and a niche breakdown.

7. When to recalculate

With any change in the economics of the product: price, cost, composition of variable costs, delivery conditions.

A ten percent discount seems small, but with a margin of thirty percent, it takes away a third of the profit from each sale - and the allowable CPA drops accordingly. At the same time, campaigns continue to work at the old rates, and the channel quietly goes into the red.

8. Summary

Before launch, the acceptable CPA and break-even point are considered. During - actual CPL, CPA and ROAS compared to these boundaries. After accumulating history - LTV to CAC and unit economics for scaling decisions.

The most useful habit of all: counting the ceiling before you turn on advertising, and not after you spend your budget.

All calculations - in the calculators section. Norms - in benchmarks. Related materials: unit economics, calculation of ROAS and CPL.