You’re sending Web Push notifications. Your subscribers are clicking. But is it actually paying off? Between a flattering CTR and a real ROI, there is often a gap that few marketers take the time to measure. This guide gives you the formulas, metrics and reflexes you need to analyse your campaigns with precision.
Core metrics: what you need to track with every campaign
Before calculating an ROI, you first need to be measuring the right indicators. Here are the five fundamental metrics, with their definitions and the reference thresholds to keep in mind.
| Metric | Short definition | Indicative benchmark | Warning sign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opt-in rate | % of visitors who accept to receive notifications | 10–20% | < 5% |
| Deliverability rate | % of notifications successfully received | > 90% | < 80% |
| CTR (clicks/sends) | % of subscribers who click | 3–8% | < 2% |
| Conversion rate | % of clickers who convert | variable / objective | stagnation |
| Unsubscribe rate | % who opt out | < 0.5% / send | > 1% |
These benchmarks are reference points, not absolute truths. They vary depending on your sector, your send frequency and the maturity of your subscriber base. The key is to track them over time, not just on a one-off basis.
How to calculate your Web Push ROI step by step
The ROI of a Web Push campaign is calculated differently depending on your objective. Here are the two most common scenarios.
Case A: Editorial campaign (objective: traffic and display revenue)
You are a publisher and you use Web Push to bring visitors back to your site, where they generate display advertising revenue. Here is the calculation logic: ROI = (Clicks × Display RPM / 1,000) – Campaign cost
📊 Concrete example: Base: 15,000 active subscribers. CTR: 5% → 750 clicks. Average display RPM: €3. Estimated revenue: 750 × 3 / 1,000 = €2.25 – campaign cost, per send. For a base of 100,000 subscribers at the same CTR → €300/month in additional display revenue, not counting direct push revenue.
On top of this come the push monetisation revenues generated by advertiser campaigns delivered to your subscriber base: an additional revenue stream, entirely managed by the ad network, which does not depend on traffic to your site.
Case B: Commercial campaign (objective: sale or lead)
You are an advertiser sending push notifications to generate direct conversions. The formula is classic but must incorporate the real value of each conversion: ROI = ((Number of conversions × Average value) – Campaign cost) / Campaign cost × 100
📊 Concrete example: Campaign sent to 20,000 subscribers. CTR: 4% → 800 clicks. Post-click conversion rate: 3% → 24 sales. Average basket: €85. Revenue generated: 24 × 85 = €2,040. Campaign cost: €200. ROI = ((2,040 – 200) / 200) × 100 = 920%.
This figure may seem high — it simply reflects the efficiency of a low-cost send channel on a qualified opt-in base. To put it in perspective, compare it with your email or paid social ROI on the same objectives.
Advanced indicators for long-term steering
Subscriber RPM (revenue per 1,000 active subscribers)
This is the key indicator for publishers. It allows you to compare the value of your Web Push base against other channels (email, display) on a normalised basis. Subscriber RPM = Total Web Push revenue / Number of active subscribers × 1,000. A steadily rising subscriber RPM means your base is growing AND your campaigns are optimising.
Subscriber lifetime value (LTV)
A Web Push subscriber is not only valuable for the next campaign — they are valuable for all future interactions, for as long as they remain in your base. Estimate their LTV by multiplying their average monthly revenue by their estimated lifetime in your base. This calculation justifies investing in opt-in optimisation: every percentage point of opt-in rate gained, at equal traffic, translates into revenue over several months.
Subscriber acquisition cost vs email
Unlike email, a Web Push subscriber requires no form, no data entry and no CRM database to maintain. The acquisition cost is essentially the cost of your inbound traffic. At equal traffic, a Web Push subscriber is structurally cheaper to acquire than an email subscriber — and can be contacted immediately, with no double opt-in delay.
Classic mistakes that skew your analysis
- Confusing clicks with conversions. A good CTR does not mean a good ROI. If your clickers aren’t buying or reading, the channel is not at fault — it’s the landing page that needs reworking.
- Not segmenting your audiences. Sending the same notification to your entire base without distinction dilutes your message. Segment by behaviour, product type, purchase history and compare performance between segments.
- Ignoring the unsubscribe rate. A high unsubscribe rate (>1% per send) is a warning signal: frequency too high, message not relevant, audience poorly targeted. Your base is silently degrading.
- Measuring too early. In the first weeks after integration, your base is small and your figures are not representative. Give yourself at least 60 to 90 days before drawing conclusions about the structural ROI of the channel.
- Forgetting indirect effects. Push traffic generates positive signals for Google Discover, improves your visit recurrence and reduces your dependency on external sources. These effects don’t show up in your push dashboard, but they impact your overall performance.
What the Adrenalead dashboard gives you natively
There’s no need to build complex Excel spreadsheets to track your performance. Our solution natively centralises the indicators you need, in real time.
On the subscriber collection side: opt-in window impressions, opt-in rate by traffic source, evolution of your active base, unsubscribe rate by period.
On the campaigns side: notifications sent, deliverability rate, CTR by campaign and by segment, conversions tracked via UTM in Google Analytics / GA4, revenue generated per campaign and per site for monetised publishers.
The dashboard clearly distinguishes editorial performance (your own content push notifications) from monetisation revenue (advertiser campaigns delivered to your base) — allowing you to analyse each lever independently and optimise both in parallel.
In summary: what you should do right now
- Check that your UTM tracking is properly configured on all your push campaigns
- Calculate your average CTR over the last 30 days and compare it to the benchmark in the table above
- Estimate a subscriber’s LTV by crossing average monthly revenue with average lifetime in your base
- Identify your best-performing segments and focus your next campaigns on them
- Set a monthly review of your push KPIs — the ROI of a channel is optimised over time, not in a single send
A well-measured ROI is a well-managed lever. And a well-managed lever is a subscriber base that gains value with every campaign. Discover how Adrenalead helps you maximise your performance.
