How do you calculate the ROI of a billboard or poster campaign?
Take the revenue the campaign brought in, subtract what it cost, and divide by the cost. Enter your spend, scans, scan-to-customer rate and average customer value below to get cost per scan, cost per customer and ROI.
By Daniel Zaremba, founder of BetterQR · Updated
Media, printing and installation.
Total scans across the campaign.
Share of scans that became paying customers.
Revenue from one customer, first order or lifetime.
Fill in all four numbers to see cost per scan, cost per customer and ROI. Cost must be above £0 and the rate between 0 and 100%.
What formulas does the calculator use?
| Output | Formula |
|---|---|
| Cost per scan | campaign cost ÷ scans |
| Customers | scans × scan-to-customer rate |
| Cost per customer | campaign cost ÷ customers |
| Revenue | customers × average customer value |
| ROI | (revenue − campaign cost) ÷ campaign cost × 100 |
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to BetterQR or stored.
What does a worked example look like?
Say a set of posters costs £400 to print and place, and the QR codes on them get 120 scans. If 5% of scans turn into a paying customer, that is 6 customers. At an average customer value of £60, revenue is £360.
- Cost per scan: £400 ÷ 120 = £3.33
- Cost per customer: £400 ÷ 6 = £66.67
- ROI: (£360 − £400) ÷ £400 = −10%
A negative first-order ROI is not automatically a failure. If those customers come back, use lifetime value instead of first-order value and the picture changes. The calculator does not decide which number is right for you; it makes the trade-off visible.
Where do I get the scan-to-customer rate?
From your own data. Tag the link behind each code with UTM parameters so GA4 can tie visits and purchases back to the placement, then divide purchases by scans. The UTM and GA4 setup guide covers the naming, and the QR code UTM builder creates the tagged link and code in one step. Offline sales, such as a voucher redeemed in a shop, can be counted by hand with a code word printed next to the QR code.
If you have no data yet, run the calculator with a low and a high guess. That gives you the break-even rate before you spend anything.
Should ROI use revenue or profit?
This calculator uses revenue, because that is the number most small businesses can see. If your margin is thin, multiply the average customer value by your gross margin first. A £60 sale at a 40% margin is worth £24 of profit, and the ROI should be judged on that.
Why is cost per scan useful on its own?
It lets you compare placements before sales data arrives. Two posters with the same cost but 30 and 150 scans tell you where the next print run should go. It only works if every placement has its own code, so scans are not pooled. The guide to measuring billboard ROI walks through the full method.
How does BetterQR help?
BetterQR gives each placement its own dynamic QR code and counts scans per code, so the scans figure in this calculator comes straight from your dashboard. Dynamic codes come with the paid plans; see pricing.
Related
- Measure billboard ROIMeasure billboard and poster ROI without an enterprise tool: cost per scan, scan-to-visit and visit-to-sale, worked through with example numbers.
- OOH attribution for small brandsHow small brands measure billboards, posters and flyers: one QR code per placement, UTMs into GA4, and a simple cost-per-scan comparison.
- QR code UTM + GA4 setupTag every printed QR code with UTMs so GA4 attributes visits and conversions to the right poster, flyer or billboard. Naming scheme included.
- QR code UTM builderBuild a UTM-tagged link and its QR code in one step, so GA4 shows which print placement sent each visit. Free, no sign-up.
Give every placement its own code
Set up a dynamic QR code per poster, flyer or billboard in a few minutes and see which one brings customers in.
