Salesforce campaign ROI is the return a campaign earns on what it cost. Salesforce's standard Campaign ROI Analysis report calculates it as the net gain (Total Value Opps minus Actual Cost) divided by Actual Cost, shown as a percentage. It needs each campaign's Actual Cost and opportunities linked to campaigns.
This guide sets out how campaigns connect to revenue, the formulas worth tracking, the reports Salesforce provides and how to choose a Campaign Influence model.
How do Salesforce Campaigns track ROI?
A campaign record holds the plan (Budgeted Cost, Expected Revenue), the spend (Actual Cost) and the results that Salesforce rolls up automatically. Leads and contacts join a campaign as campaign members. When they convert or are added to an opportunity, that opportunity is tied back to the campaign, and its value counts towards the campaign's results.
Three settings decide whether the numbers are right:
- Member statuses. Salesforce's Campaign Management Implementation Guide says new campaigns have two default member statuses, "Sent" and "Responded". You choose which statuses count as responded, and those members are tallied in the Responses in Campaign field.
- Costs. Actual Cost has to be filled in for every campaign, or ROI cannot be calculated.
- Hierarchy. Parent campaigns roll up child results through hierarchy fields such as Total Actual Cost in Hierarchy and Total Value Won Opportunities in Hierarchy. Salesforce notes these fields must be enabled through field-level security.
Which campaign ROI metrics and formulas should you track?
The fields below are Salesforce's own campaign fields, as named in its campaign guide. The ROI formula is Salesforce's; the others are standard marketing formulas built on those fields, usually as campaign formula fields or report formulas.
| Metric | Formula | Where it comes from in Salesforce |
|---|---|---|
| ROI | (Total Value Opps minus Actual Cost) divided by Actual Cost, as a percentage | Calculated by the standard Campaign ROI Analysis report |
| Cost per lead | Actual Cost divided by leads generated | Formula field or report formula; Total Leads in Hierarchy for parent campaigns |
| Cost per response | Actual Cost divided by Responses in Campaign | Responses count members whose status is marked as responded |
| Response rate | Responses divided by number sent | Total Responses in Hierarchy and Total Num Sent in Hierarchy for a campaign family |
| Won revenue | Sum of won opportunity amounts linked to the campaign | Amount of Won Opportunities on the campaign; Total Value Won Opportunities in Hierarchy |
| Influenced pipeline | Sum of each open opportunity's amount multiplied by the campaign's influence percentage | Campaign Influence records and the Campaigns with Influenced Opportunities report |
| Budget variance | Actual Cost minus Budgeted Cost | Campaign cost fields; Total Budgeted Cost and Total Actual Cost in Hierarchy |
Salesforce's guide also warns that brand-building campaigns, such as print, billboards and radio, may not generate direct responses, so their ROI is harder to calculate. Judge those on influenced pipeline rather than direct ROI.
How does Salesforce calculate campaign ROI?
- Enter Actual Cost on the campaignWithout it, ROI cannot be calculated.
- Link opportunities to the campaignOpportunities from converted or added members count towards its results.
- Subtract Actual Cost from Total Value OppsThis is the campaign's return.
- Divide by Actual CostShown as a percentage in the standard Campaign ROI Analysis report.
Which Salesforce reports show campaign ROI?
The campaign guide lists these standard campaign reports, found on the Reports tab under the Campaigns category, as Trailhead's campaign reporting unit shows:
- Campaign ROI Analysis: ROI and average costs for your campaigns.
- Campaign Revenue: which opportunities resulted from your campaigns, including products and revenue schedules.
- Campaigns with Influenced Opportunities: opportunities influenced by each campaign.
- Campaign Member Analysis: who has responded to campaigns.
- Campaigns with Campaign Members: lead and contact information across several campaigns.
For cross-channel journeys run in Marketing Cloud, unified customer data in Data 360 (formerly Data Cloud) helps link engagement to the same customer records.
How does Campaign Influence work?
Salesforce's Campaign Influence Implementation Guide (Winter '27) describes Campaign Influence as a tool that attributes a percentage of success to influential campaigns. Influence models scan active campaigns for members who are also a contact role on an open opportunity, and create a campaign influence record for that link. Once the opportunity is closed, won or lost, no new influence records are created.
Salesforce recommends Customizable Campaign Influence; Campaign Influence 1.0 is supported only in Salesforce Classic. The models are:
| Model | How it assigns influence | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Campaign Source | 100% to the campaign in the opportunity's Primary Campaign Source field; auto-associated, no manual records | Default model |
| Custom models | Users enter an influence percentage per campaign on the opportunity, or it is set through Apex or the API | Number of models varies by edition |
| First touch | 100% to the first campaign a prospect touches | Orgs using Sales Cloud and Account Engagement |
| Last touch | 100% to the last campaign touched before the deal closes | Orgs using Sales Cloud and Account Engagement |
| Even distribution | An equal share to every campaign a prospect touches | Orgs using Sales Cloud and Account Engagement |
You can set an auto-association time frame in Setup, so a member-contact link only counts as influential within a window you choose. For Account Engagement users, Salesforce recommends turning on Connected Campaigns before setting up influence.
How can you get reliable campaign ROI in Salesforce?
- Make Actual Cost and Budgeted Cost required before a campaign is marked complete.
- Agree member statuses per campaign type and mark which ones count as responded.
- Use a campaign hierarchy (for example, program, channel, campaign) so totals roll up.
- Make sure reps add contact roles to opportunities; influence models depend on them.
- Pick one influence model as the default for reporting and document why.
- Review ROI and influenced pipeline monthly, and move budget towards what produces both.
Techila's Marketing Cloud services and Salesforce consulting services cover campaign setup, attribution and reporting.
Frequently asked questions
How does Salesforce calculate campaign ROI?
The standard Campaign ROI Analysis report calculates ROI as the net gain (Total Value Opps minus Actual Cost) divided by the Actual Cost, shown as a percentage. It only works if each campaign has its Actual Cost filled in and opportunities are linked to campaigns.
What is Campaign Influence in Salesforce?
Campaign Influence is the Salesforce feature that attributes a percentage of an opportunity's success to the campaigns that influenced it. Salesforce recommends Customizable Campaign Influence, which works in Lightning Experience; Campaign Influence 1.0 is supported only in Salesforce Classic.
What is the Primary Campaign Source model?
It is the default model in Customizable Campaign Influence. It gives 100% of the influence to the campaign in the opportunity's Primary Campaign Source field, and users cannot add influence records to it manually.
Can Salesforce do first-touch and last-touch attribution?
Yes, for orgs using both Sales Cloud and Account Engagement. Salesforce offers additional influence models for them: first touch, last touch and even distribution. Other orgs use the Primary Campaign Source model and custom models.
How do you calculate cost per lead for a Salesforce campaign?
Divide the campaign's Actual Cost by the number of leads it generated. Salesforce does not ship a standard cost per lead report, so most teams add a formula field on the campaign or calculate it in a report.
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