MER

MER is total revenue over total marketing spend, the blended number immune to attribution politics.

What MER is

MER, marketing efficiency ratio, is total revenue divided by total marketing spend: every dollar the business made against every dollar marketing spent, one blended number for the whole machine.

Why MER matters

Channel-level ROAS fractured as tracking broke and platforms over-claimed: MER routes around the attribution argument entirely by measuring the only two numbers that can’t lie, real revenue and real spend. Founders steer by it because it’s the P&L’s view of marketing, immune to pixel politics.

Using MER without fooling yourself

Set the floor from unit economics: the MER at which orders actually profit
Trend it against spend levels: efficiency naturally falls as spend scales
Pair with new-customer versions: blended MER can hide bought-again revenue
Use it as the referee: platform ROAS claims audited against the blended truth

Frequently asked questions

MER vs ROAS: which should decide budgets?

Different altitudes: ROAS steers within channels day to day, MER judges the whole system month to month. When the platforms’ ROAS numbers sum to more revenue than the business made, MER is the adult in the room.

What’s a good MER?

The one your margins survive: a contribution-margin calculation sets each business’s break-even MER, and the target sits above it with room for overhead and profit. Borrowing another brand’s MER target imports their cost structure without their products.

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MER