ROAS vs MER vs contribution margin
ROAS is channel-level attributed revenue over spend, easy to report and easy to inflate. MER is total revenue over total marketing spend, immune to attribution games and blind to channel detail. Contribution margin after marketing tells you whether the business made money. Run ROAS for in-platform optimization, MER as the sanity check on the whole program, and contribution margin as the number that sets the budget.
| ROAS | MER | contribution margin | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formula | Attributed revenue divided by channel spend | Total revenue divided by total marketing spend | Revenue minus variable costs minus marketing |
| Scope | One channel or campaign | Whole business | Whole business or product line |
| Depends on attribution | Entirely | No | No |
| Accounts for margin | No | No | Yes |
| Use | Tactical optimization | Program-level health | Budget setting and profitability |
Terms in this comparison
Cite this page:
Agency Echelon. "ROAS vs MER vs contribution margin." Agency Echelon Reference, reviewed September 2026. https://agencyechelon.com/reference/compare/roas-vs-mer-vs-contribution-margin/