← DictionaryReturn on Investment
The gain produced relative to the cost invested.
Whether it made more than it cost.
What It Is
In the BWH map, Return on Investment lives under Measurement — Conversion. The working definition is simple: the gain produced relative to the cost invested.
It is something measured and compared over time, so one reading in isolation tells you almost nothing. Keep it that plain and it will still be true in twelve months.
How It's Used
Return on Investment comes up in reporting, analytics reviews and the arguments about what the numbers mean. It is usually discussed together with Return on Ad Spend, Cost Per Acquisition and Margin. The practical test is whether it is measured the same way each period, against something.
Why It Matters
Getting Return on Investment wrong is expensive in a quiet way. When it is unclear, reporting becomes a matter of opinion. It is worth pinning down before anyone builds on top of it.
It is a number on a dial. The number only means something next to yesterday's number. Whether it made more than it cost.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Practitioners use Return on Investment as shorthand and expect no explanation — the gain produced relative to the cost invested.
Outside the industry, most people would just say: whether it made more than it cost.
The Bottom Line
Keep Return on Investment plain: whether it made more than it cost. That is the version that holds up in a real project.