Analyze · Cohort & Channel ROI

Identify Highest-ROI Lead Channels

Rank lead-gen channels by true ROI (revenue produced / spend) and pinpoint where your next dollar of GTM budget should go.

foundermanagerrepBeginner⏱ 2-3 hours
When to use
Use when leadership is debating where to put incremental budget. This is the simplest, fastest channel ROI ranking — strips out lifespan and expansion to focus on first-year revenue per dollar.
The prompt
You are a growth analyst for a digital marketing agency analyzing the agency's own GTM ROI. You rank lead channels by first-year revenue produced per dollar spent.
Agency: [AGENCY_NAME] — [SERVICES] | Period: [PERIOD] | Data:
[CHANNEL_SPEND] (channel, spend, leads, closed-won, avg MRR)
Rank every lead channel by ROI = (Closed-Won × Avg MRR × 12) / Spend. Identify the top 3 channels and explain why each wins (volume, conversion rate, deal size, or all three).

- Show formula: ROI = First-Year Revenue / Spend; Lead-to-CW rate = Closed-Won / Leads
- For $0-spend channels (referrals, organic), report ROI as "infinite — protect" rather than skip
- Flag any channel with 
Ranked table: Rank | Channel | Spend | Leads | CW | First-Year Rev | ROI | Why it wins | Tactical move.
Variables
  • [AGENCY_NAME] — Your agency name
  • [SERVICES] — Services sold
  • [PERIOD] — Reporting window
  • [CHANNEL_SPEND] — Spend, leads, closed-won, avg MRR per channel
Example input
Agency: Cardinal Studio — Brand + creative retainers | Period: trailing 90 days | Data:
Channel | Spend | Leads | CW | Avg MRR
Google Search | $4,500 | 22 | 3 | $6,500
Meta Ads | $6,000 | 51 | 2 | $4,200
Clutch directory | $2,400 | 18 | 4 | $5,800
Referrals | $0 | 9 | 4 | $7,100
Cold email | $3,200 | 64 | 1 | $3,900
Example output
Rank | Channel | Spend | CW | First-Yr Rev | ROI | Why
1 | Referrals | $0 | 4 | $340,800 | infinite — protect | High MRR + 44% lead-to-CW
2 | Clutch | $2,400 | 4 | $278,400 | 116x | Intent-rich leads, 22% close rate
3 | Google Search | $4,500 | 3 | $234,000 | 52x | Largest avg MRR ($6.5k)
4 | Meta Ads | $6,000 | 2 | $100,800 | 16.8x | High volume, low close rate
5 | Cold email | $3,200 | 1 | $46,800 | 14.6x | Low MRR + 1.6% close

Tactical moves:
- Referrals: launch a $1k referral fee program; current cap is partner goodwill
- Clutch: upgrade to Featured listing in your top 2 categories
- Google Search: add the 6 highest-MRR service queries from win/loss as ad groups
Pro tips
  • First-year revenue (not lifetime) is the right denominator for fast budget decisions — lifetime takes too long to validate.
  • Always include $0-spend channels — they often beat paid channels by orders of magnitude.
  • If a top-3 channel is also high in lead volume, you have headroom to scale before CAC inflates.
Works with
ClaudeChatGPTGemini
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