marketing
MER - Marketing Efficiency Ratio
Total revenue divided by total ad spend across all channels combined - the blended, whole-business view of marketing efficiency.
Formula
MER = Total Revenue / Total Ad Spend (all channels)
MER zooms out to the whole business. Instead of asking how Meta performed, MER asks: across every dollar you spent on every channel, how much revenue came back?
MER matters because channels influence each other. A Meta ad might not close the sale directly, but it puts your brand in a customer's head. They click a Google search ad a week later and convert. Google ROAS looks great; Meta ROAS looks weak. MER captures the combined effect.
MER is your break-even check. If your average contribution margin is 30%, your MER needs to be above roughly 3.3x for marketing spend to be profitable. If MER drops below that, you are shrinking while you grow.
Track MER daily alongside per-channel ROAS. Per-channel ROAS tells you where to shift budget. MER tells you whether the whole engine is working.
What is a good MER for DTC?
It scales with your contribution margin. If your average contribution margin is 30%, your MER needs to be above roughly 3.3x for marketing spend to be profitable overall. Below that ratio, you are shrinking while you grow, even if revenue looks fine.
My MER looks healthy but one channel's ROAS looks bad, what is going on?
Channels influence each other. A Meta ad might not close the sale directly, but it puts your brand in a customer's head, and they convert a week later through a Google search ad. Google ROAS looks great, Meta ROAS looks weak, and MER captures the combined effect that per-channel ROAS misses.
How often should I check MER?
Track it daily, alongside per-channel ROAS. Per-channel ROAS tells you where to shift budget between channels. MER tells you whether the whole marketing engine is working.
See MER live in your store.
Vibel tracks MER across every channel and surfaces it alongside contribution margin, LTV and every other metric that matters.
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