Ad Spend Break-Even Calculator
Before judging a campaign as a win or a loss, it helps to know the actual bar it has to clear. Enter your spend, expected traffic, order value, and margin, and this works out the exact conversion rate and sales volume needed just to break even.
Free, no signup. Result calculates instantly as you type.You need to convert at
0.32%
That's 13 sales from 4,000 visitors, just to break even.
Sales needed
13
Profit per sale
£158
Send your result to Basil Studio Co and I'll reply honestly if there's something worth acting on, no obligation either way.
The conversion rate a campaign needs to hit, given its traffic and spend, before it starts losing money. Below that rate, you're paying to acquire customers at a loss; above it, the campaign is profitable. It's a useful bar to set before a campaign launches, not just a number to check afterwards.
A £500 sale at a 10% margin returns £50 of actual profit toward covering ad spend; the same £500 sale at 40% margin returns £200. Two businesses with identical order values can have completely different break-even points once margin is factored in, which is why margin, not revenue, is the number that determines whether a campaign is actually working.
Tighten targeting before cutting spend: broad match keywords, weak negative keyword lists, and generic landing pages are the most common causes of a conversion rate sitting below break-even. If targeting is already tight and the rate still isn't there, the offer or the price point is usually the next thing worth questioning.