Configure paid ad ROI in Hubspot step by step

Tracking the real return on your ad spend in Hubspot is essential if you want clear visibility into which campaigns generate revenue and which waste budget. This guide walks you through how Hubspot calculates paid ad ROI and how to configure the settings so your reports stay accurate and aligned with your business goals.

How Hubspot calculates paid ad ROI

Before changing any settings, it helps to understand how Hubspot turns ad interactions into revenue metrics. The ad ROI calculation pulls data from several sources inside your account, then combines them into a single set of performance metrics.

At a high level, ad ROI in the ads tool is based on:

• Ad cost and spend from your connected ad networks
• Contacts attributed to specific ads or campaigns
• Deals and revenue associated with those attributed contacts
• Attribution models that decide how credit is assigned

When these elements are correctly configured, the ads tool can display metrics such as revenue, cost per contact, and return on ad spend (ROAS) for each campaign.

Where Hubspot gets ad revenue data

Revenue for paid ads in Hubspot is not pulled directly from your ad networks. Instead, it is calculated from deals in your CRM that are associated with contacts who engaged with your ads.

Hubspot uses:

• Contacts created or influenced by ads
• Deals linked to those contacts
• Deal amount (usually the Amount property)
• Deal stage and pipeline settings

Only deals that meet the criteria you define in the ads ROI settings are included in revenue calculations. This means you stay in control over which deals count as real revenue versus early-stage opportunities.

Open the Hubspot ads ROI settings

To configure how your ad ROI is calculated, you will adjust settings in the ads tool. These options are available to accounts with the appropriate marketing and ads tools enabled.

1. In your Hubspot account, navigate to your advertising tools from the main navigation.
2. Open the ads dashboard where connected networks and campaigns appear.
3. Look for a settings or configuration option related to Attribution or ROI for ads.
4. Click to open the ROI and revenue configuration panel.

The exact navigation labels can vary by subscription level and product updates, but the ROI settings are always located within the ads section of your Hubspot portal.

Choose which deals count as revenue in Hubspot

The most important decision in configuring ad ROI in Hubspot is defining which deals are eligible to be counted as revenue in your ad reports.

Select deal pipelines and stages for Hubspot ad ROI

You can restrict revenue to only certain pipelines or stages, so that early or unqualified opportunities do not inflate your numbers.

1. In the ROI settings, locate the section for Deal revenue or Include deals.
2. Select which deal pipelines are relevant for paid ad revenue.
3. Within each pipeline, choose the stages that represent a won or closed revenue outcome.
4. Save your changes so Hubspot recalculates ROI using these criteria.

By focusing on the stages that equal actual sales or subscriptions, your ROI metrics become a realistic reflection of ad performance.

Define deal amount and currency behavior in Hubspot

In multi-currency or complex sales environments, you may need to specify which property is treated as revenue for ads.

• Confirm that the Amount property is used for revenue in your deals.
• If you use custom amount fields, ensure those are mapped correctly or converted to the standard amount.
• Check that currency conversion rules in your account are aligned with how you want ad revenue to appear.

This ensures Hubspot does not overcount or undercount your ad revenue due to inconsistent deal amounts.

Configure attribution for paid ads in Hubspot

Ad ROI depends heavily on how attribution is set up, because attribution defines which contacts and deals are linked back to which campaigns.

Understand Hubspot ad attribution options

While the detailed models may vary, most Hubspot accounts support a mix of common attribution approaches, such as:

• First touch – gives full credit to the first interaction
• Last touch – gives full credit to the final interaction before conversion
• Multi-touch models – distribute credit across several interactions

The ads tool will use these models to determine which contacts and deals are influenced by each campaign.

Apply the right attribution model in Hubspot ad reports

Within reporting and ad performance views, you can usually select different attribution models to view ROI from multiple angles.

1. Open an ad campaign or group of campaigns in the ads dashboard.
2. Locate the attribution or model selector available in your Hubspot reporting view.
3. Switch between models (for example, first touch vs. last touch) to see how revenue and ROI numbers change.
4. Decide on a primary model for executive reporting, while keeping others available for analysis.

Using multiple attribution perspectives in Hubspot helps you understand both lead generation and closing influence from your ads.

How costs and ROI are calculated in Hubspot

Hubspot pulls ad spend directly from your connected ad accounts and combines it with CRM revenue to calculate ROI metrics. Common metrics that rely on this setup include:

• Cost per contact and cost per customer
• Return on ad spend (ROAS)
• Revenue per contact from specific campaigns

Any change you make to the deal inclusion rules or attribution in Hubspot will impact these metrics moving forward and, depending on the setting, may also update historical data.

Best practices for clean ad ROI data in Hubspot

To keep your ROI reports reliable, combine good CRM hygiene with careful configuration of your ad tool.

• Standardize how you create and close deals in the CRM.
• Ensure every new customer generated through ads has at least one associated deal.
• Regularly review which pipelines and stages are included in Hubspot ad revenue settings.
• Validate that ad accounts remain connected and synchronized.

These habits reduce gaps between actual revenue and what appears in your ad dashboards.

Troubleshooting unexpected ad ROI in Hubspot

If numbers in your ads reports do not match internal revenue expectations, review the following areas in Hubspot first:

• Deal stage filters: Confirm that only genuinely won deals are included.
• Contact association: Check that deals are associated with the correct contacts sourced from ads.
• Attribution model: Validate that you are using the right model for the question you are answering.
• Timeframes: Align reporting date ranges with your sales cycle length.

Most discrepancies come from misaligned deal filtering or attribution assumptions rather than technical data errors in Hubspot.

Learn more about Hubspot ad ROI configuration

You can always reference the official documentation for precise, up-to-date instructions on how paid ad ROI is configured in Hubspot. Review the current product details here: Hubspot paid ad ROI configuration.

If you need strategic help designing campaigns and interpreting ROI inside your marketing platform, you can also get expert guidance from agencies such as Consultevo, which specialize in performance marketing and analytics.

With the right configuration and clear rules around which deals count as revenue, Hubspot becomes a powerful source of truth for evaluating paid ad performance and making confident budget decisions.

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