Is your social media actually
generating revenue?
Most brands measure likes. The ones that grow measure cost per customer. Enter your spend, time, and engagement rate — and see what your social is actually worth.
Source: Sprout Social Index, Rival IQ Social Media Industry Report.
Content creation + management
Your cost or agency rate
Likes + comments + shares ÷ followers. Find this in your platform analytics.
Average order value or monthly subscription price.
Fill in all fields to see your ROI. Revenue per customer is required.
The 6 factors that separate social media that pays from social that just costs.
Engagement and follower count are vanity metrics. These are the factors that determine whether your social investment actually converts to revenue.
Follower quality over quantity
10,000 engaged followers who match your buyer persona are worth more than 100,000 passive ones. Engagement rate is the signal — it tells you if the audience you've built is the audience you need.
The content-to-conversion gap
Most brands get engagement but no revenue because every post is entertainment — nothing directs the audience to a next step. Mixing in offer-led content, testimonials, and CTAs closes this gap.
Time is your biggest cost
At $50/hour, 20 hours of social management costs $1,000/month before any ad spend. Most businesses undercount this. When time cost is included, organic social rarely produces positive ROI without a conversion funnel behind it.
The warm retargeting opportunity
Followers who engage with your posts are your hottest paid audience. Even $200–300/month retargeting them with an offer typically returns 5–10× what cold-audience ads produce.
Attribution is broken for social
Most brands under-attribute social revenue because customers don't click a tracked link the day they buy. Post-purchase surveys consistently show social influenced 2–3× more revenue than last-click attribution credits.
Platform algorithms reward consistency
Irregular posting drops your average reach per post significantly. A consistent 3-post-per-week cadence outperforms daily posting followed by a two-week gap — even with the same total volume.
How we estimate your social media ROI
Social-to-sale conversion rates benchmarked from Sprout Social, HubSpot, and Nielsen social commerce data — applied by engagement tier, not a one-size-fits-all average. Time cost is included because it is almost always the largest real expense.
Monthly budget (tools, boosts, ads) + (hours spent × hourly rate) = your real cost. Most calculators ignore time cost — which is usually the largest expense for organic social.
Followers × engagement rate = the number of people who actively interact with your content each month. This is your real addressable audience — not your follower count.
We apply a social-to-sale conversion rate based on your engagement tier (from Sprout Social, HubSpot, and Nielsen benchmarks) to estimate monthly revenue — then compare it to your total cost to calculate ROI.
Common questions
What is a good social media engagement rate?
It varies by platform. Instagram averages 1–3%, TikTok 2–5%, LinkedIn 0.5–1%, Facebook 0.5–1.5%. Engagement above 3% on Instagram or 5% on TikTok is considered strong. Below 1% on any platform signals an audience quality or content relevance problem.
How do I calculate social media ROI?
ROI = (Revenue from social − Total cost) ÷ Total cost × 100. Total cost must include both cash spend (tools, ads) and the time cost of content creation and management. Most brands undercount time cost, which inflates perceived ROI.
Is organic social media worth it without paid ads?
Organic social builds brand awareness and trust but rarely produces positive ROI on its own without a conversion funnel behind it. The highest-ROI model combines consistent organic content with small-budget retargeting ads to convert warm followers.
What social media conversion rate should I expect?
Social-to-sale conversion rates are typically 0.3–2.5%, depending on engagement quality and how well the conversion funnel is set up. High-engagement accounts with a clear offer and nurture sequence can reach 2–4%.
Is this calculator free?
Yes — completely free. No account, no email, no credit card required.
The calculator shows the number. We build the funnel.
Our team audits your social strategy, identifies the conversion gaps, and builds a roadmap to turn your existing audience into paying customers.
No commitment · We'll scope it together