Last Updated on May 28, 2025
Building a Marketing Investment Plan is essential for understanding how your marketing spend translates into customer growth, revenues, and long-term returns.
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to create one in Microsoft Excel — from analyzing advertising campaign data to forecasting revenues, calculating Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), and evaluating Return on Investment (ROI).
To follow along, you can download my Marketing Investment Plan Template. This post also includes a full video walkthrough.
Table of Contents
Step 1. Analyze Marketing Campaign Data and Cost per Acquisition
Start your Marketing Investment Plan by estimating how your marketing budget converts into actual users. It’s best if you should have run a test campaign or have access to comparable data from past marketing efforts.
Use a dataset that includes the following:
- Marketing Channels – such as social media ads, online advertising, or offline media,
- Number of Conversions – for example, purchases or subscriber sign-ups,
- Cost of Advertisement – total amount spent on each marketing channel,
- Date – to analyze trends over time if the campaign ran for multiple months,
- Optional Metrics – such as impressions and clicks, useful for deeper performance analysis.
This dataset will help you calculate key metrics like Cost per Click (CPC) and Cost per Acquisition (CPA). CPA will be the foundation for your Marketing Budget and Customer Revenue Forecast.
📊 See how you can clean and prep campaign data before analysis in my Power Query and Pivot Table tutorial, which walks through importing, transforming, and summarizing your marketing performance data.
Step 2. Forecast Customer Growth Using CPA and Marketing Spend
Next, build your marketing budget assumptions by estimating how much monthly spending will translate into new customers.
Divide your planned marketing spend by the anticipated Cost per Acquisition (CPA) to forecast customer growth.
For example, a $1,000 marketing budget with a $10 CPA would result in 100 projected customers ($1,000 ÷ $10 = 100).
To refine your plan further, break down your marketing budget by channel, each with its own CPA assumptions:
- Internet Advertising – such as Google Ads,
- Social Media – like Facebook or Instagram campaigns,
- Offline Channels – for example, posters, flyers, or physical ads,
- Other / Experiment – any emerging or experimental marketing strategies.
In my Marketing Investment Plan Template, historical marketing data is transformed into a monthly view, tracking investment by channel, new acquisitions, and calculated CPAs.
With an expected monthly marketing investment and CPA estimates, you can forecast customer growth — laying the foundation for projecting revenues based on pricing assumptions.
Want to learn more about marketing strategy fundamentals? Check out this marketing mix guide.
Step 3. Forecast Revenues Based on Projected Customer Acquisition
You can now project customer revenues with your Cost per Acquisition (CPA) and marketing investment estimates.
First, link the number of projected users to your monthly pricing assumptions to forecast revenue.
For example, with 1,000 users in a given month and a $10 monthly fee, the estimated revenue would be $10,000 (1,000 × $10 = $10,000).
Next, include a pricing index to account for expected price increases over time.
To add complexity, my Marketing Investment Plan Template introduces multiple customer groups with different pricing models. For example, you could separate users into Basic and Premium subscription plans.
📈 For a more complete revenue model tied to subscriptions, my Subscription Model with Churn Calculation tutorial helps link pricing, churn, and recurring revenue.
Step 4. Forecast Customer Costs and Net Revenue Contribution
Besides marketing investment, you should also forecast variable and fixed costs tied to servicing customers.
Variable costs can include:
- Revenue share payments — fees paid to partners based on a percentage of revenues,
- Royalties and licensing fees — ongoing rights to distribute or use content,
- Payment processing fees — costs charged per transaction.
For example, a 30% revenue share agreement on $100 of revenue would generate a $30 expense. Or, with a $2 software license cost per user and 100 users, the total monthly expense would be $200.
For fixed costs, you can also apply a Cost Price Index to reflect rising costs over time.
To calculate Customer Net Revenues, subtract the forecast Customer Costs from the projected Customer Revenues.
Step 5. Build an Annual Summary of Marketing Spend and Revenue
Summarise your Marketing Investment and resulting Customer Net Revenue in an annual view. This higher-level summary helps spot long-term trends in cash flows and profitability.
Also, place the main plan assumptions, such as marketing spend, pricing, and customer costs, right next to the output table. This setup makes it easy to see how input changes affect overall revenues, expenses, and cash flow.
My Marketing Investment Plan Template presents an annual summary starting with marketing spend, cost per acquisition, and customer additions, followed by revenue and net cash flow contribution.
On the right side of the summary, it displays key assumptions, such as subscription fees, expected monthly marketing investment, and customer costs.
Tracking cumulative cash flow also helps determine the level of funding needed to support your marketing plan.
💼 See how to turn your marketing forecast into a full budget in my Monthly Budget and Forecast tutorial, which explains how to structure long-term summaries for better decision-making.
Step 6. Analyze Customer Churn and Calculate Lifetime Value (CLV)
When building a marketing investment plan based on subscriptions or recurring revenue, it’s vital to include churn assumptions, such as how many users stay versus leave over time.
My Marketing Investment Plan Template breaks churn into two categories:
- Initial User Retention — the percentage of users who renew after the first period.
For example, if 100 users sign up and 75% renew, you would retain 75 customers.
- Monthly Churn Rate — the percentage of the existing user base that leaves each month.
For example, with 1,000 subscribers and a 5% monthly churn rate, you would lose 50 users.
To calculate Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), multiply a user’s expected lifespan by their monthly net revenue.
For example, if a user stays for 18 months and contributes $10 monthly, their CLV would be $180 (18 × $10 = $180).
Even small changes in churn assumptions can significantly impact the overall profitability of your marketing investment plan.
Step 7. Calculate Marketing Investment ROI Using CLV vs CPA
Once you estimate your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), you can calculate your Return on Investment (ROI).
My Marketing Investment Plan Template uses this basic formula:
ROI = (Customer Lifetime Value – Cost per Acquisition) ÷ Cost per Acquisition.
For example, if a customer’s lifetime value is $100 and your cost per acquisition is $80, the return would be $20. Dividing $20 by the $80 investment gives an ROI of 25%.
In the example above, basic plan customers have the lowest cost per acquisition but also deliver lower lifetime value and ROI than premium customers. Premium users require more upfront marketing investment but generate much stronger returns over the long run.
Step 8. Stress Test the Forecast Using Scenario Analysis
After building your annual forecast and calculating returns, the next step is to test your assumptions.
You can run what-if scenarios by adjusting marketing spend, pricing, and subscription uptake rates.
Review the key return metrics — such as ROI and Customer Lifetime Value — to see how different assumptions impact the plan’s profitability. Microsoft Excel’s data table feature can summarise sensitivity results across multiple scenarios.
Stress testing helps you select the best marketing strategy. It reveals how sensitive your investment plan is to changes in key drivers like customer churn, acquisition costs, and revenue per user.
🔍 Explore how to test your forecast against cash flow needs in my Cash Flow Forecasting tutorial, which walks through breakeven analysis and liquidity planning using marketing-driven assumptions.
📌 Recap: 8 Steps to Build a Marketing Investment Plan
Here’s a quick recap of the steps we covered to build a complete Marketing Investment Plan:
- Analyse Existing Marketing Data. Extract key metrics like Cost per Acquisition (CPA) from past campaigns.
- Forecast Customer Growth. Divide your marketing budget by the CPA to estimate new customer acquisition.
- Forecast Customer Revenues. Link projected users to monthly pricing assumptions to estimate income.
- Forecast Customer Costs and Net Revenue. Subtract variable and fixed costs to calculate net cash flow.
- Build an Annual Marketing Investment Summary. Summarise growth, revenues, and costs in an annual view alongside assumptions.
- Analyse Customer Churn and Lifetime Value. Estimate user retention and lifetime value based on churn rates.
- Calculate Marketing Investment ROI. Measure the profitability of your marketing spend over time.
- Stress Test Your Marketing Forecast. Analyze how sensitive your investment plan is to key assumptions.
Following these steps, you’ll build a dynamic Marketing Investment Plan ready for real-world forecasting, valuation, and investment analysis.
📥 Download My Marketing Investment Plan Template
This Excel template is built to help you forecast marketing spend, model customer acquisition, and track long-term returns. It connects marketing investments directly to user growth, revenue, and profitability—so you can plan smarter and scale with confidence.
The spreadsheet includes everything you need to build a complete marketing investment forecast:
- Marketing Budget and Growth Forecasts — linking marketing spend to customer acquisition.
- Customer Revenue Projections — based on pricing assumptions and new user growth.
- Variable and Fixed Cost Modeling — tied to operational drivers and cost assumptions.
- Customer Lifetime Value and Churn Analysis — tracking user retention and long-term profitability.
- Profit & Loss, Cash Flow, and Lifetime Value Forecasts — fully integrated and dynamic.
- Return on Investment (ROI) Calculations — based on cumulative spending and customer lifetime contributions.
- Stress Testing Framework — using Excel data tables for scenario analysis.
✔️30-Day Money Back Guarantee included
Video Tutorial on Building a Marketing Investment Plan
You can follow along step-by-step with my complete video tutorial, where I explain how to create and customize a Marketing Investment Plan using Microsoft Excel. In the video, I cover:
- Linking marketing investment to customer growth and revenue forecasts.
- Projecting customer revenues and model variable and fixed operating costs.
- Building a fully integrated cash flow and customer lifetime value forecast.
- Calculating marketing ROI and stress test key financial assumptions.
By the end of the tutorial, you’ll know exactly how to use my Marketing Investment Plan Template to build dynamic forecasts and analyze investment outcomes.
Get in Touch
Hi, I’m Jacek. I’m passionate about spreadsheets and financial models! I hope you found this tutorial helpful and that it gave you a strong foundation for building your Marketing Investment Plan.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about financial modelling, forecasting, or Excel techniques.
You can also explore my other tutorials for more hands-on guides or check out my One-to-One Training and Financial Modelling Services if you need personalized support.
Disclaimer: This tutorial is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice.
Explore More Tutorials
Want to dive deeper into financial modelling? Here are more tutorials you might find helpful:
- How to Create a Monthly Budget and Forecast – demonstrates setting up baseline spend and revenue linkages to test marketing scenarios.
- How to Analyse Data in Microsoft Excel with Power Query and Pivot Tables – streamlines importing campaign data and building interactive dashboards.
- How to Create a Subscription Model with Churn Calculation – adapts churn sensitivity frameworks to forecast marketing-driven subscription growth.
- How to Build a Cash Flow Forecast in Microsoft Excel – ties marketing outlays to cash-flow projections and breakeven analysis.
- Learn How to Become a Self-Taught Data Analyst – suggests how to upskill in analytics tools (SQL, Python) for deeper marketing insights.
