What's a good Return on Ad Spend?
Karbon Agency's target for Return on Ad Spend is 4.0x or higher. That is Karbon's own grading target, not a published industry average. Revenue generated per dollar of ad spend. Excellent is 8.0x or higher (Karbon target), and the minimum acceptable tier is 2.0x or higher (Karbon target).
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The three tiers Karbon grades against — and where each comes from
| Tier | Value | What it means | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | 2.0x | The floor. Below this, something is broken. | Karbon target |
| Recommended | 4.0x | The tier a healthy campaign should hit. | Karbon target |
| Excellent | 8.0x | Top-tier performance worth defending. | Karbon target |
Higher is better for this metric.
How it's calculated
Revenue / Ad SpendWhy Return on Ad Spend matters
The definitive measure of advertising profitability. A ROAS of 4x means every $1 spent returns $4 in revenue. Below 2x, most businesses are unprofitable after COGS.
Karbon target
No independent public benchmark exists for Return on Ad Spend as Karbon measures it. The tiers above are Karbon Agency's own grading targets for local-business campaigns, not an industry average, and we don't cite one we haven't found.
How the platforms define it
- Meta Business Help Center — Purchase ROAS (return on ad spend) (undated page; read September 26, 2026)Purchase ROAS is purchase conversion value divided by amount spent.
- Google Ads Help — About Target ROAS bidding (undated page; read September 26, 2026)Target ROAS is the average conversion value you want for each dollar spent on ads; $5 in sales from $1 of ad spend is a 500% ROAS.
Return on Ad Spend by industry
Industry benchmarks with this metric
Where does your Return on Ad Spend land?
Karbon Agency grades every client campaign against these exact tiers, live on a dashboard — no guessing, no quarterly PDFs.