MER and blended metrics

MER (Media Efficiency Ratio) is Total Revenue / Total Ad Spend. It's blended across all channels, can't be faked by platforms, and reflects real business outcomes. For most DTC brands, it's the single most important metric.

MER calculation

MER = Total Revenue / Total Ad Spend (same period)

If you spent $100K on ads and made $300K in revenue:
MER = 3.0x

Why MER beats per-channel ROAS

• Can't be faked by platform double-counting
• Reflects actual business
• Accounts for synergies between channels
• Aligns with P&L numbers

Blended CAC

Blended CAC = Total Ad Spend / New Customers (same period)

Same idea, blend across channels for truth.

Target MER by business stage

• Early DTC: 2-3x MER while finding PMF
• Growth DTC: 3-5x MER
• Mature DTC: 5-10x MER
• Subscription: often break-even on first purchase, compound via LTV

MER vs per-channel

Use both. MER for truth. Per-channel for optimization:

• MER tells you if overall is working
• Per-channel tells you where to allocate

When per-channel doesn't match MER, MER wins.

The tracking setup

For MER you need:

• Total ad spend from every channel
• Total revenue from all channels including organic
• Clean time windows (match spend and revenue to same period)

Dashboard these weekly.

What MER can't tell you

• Which channel to cut (needs channel data + incrementality)
• Which creative works (per-creative data)
• Attribution for complex multi-touch journeys

MER is one number, not the whole story. But the one number that matters most.