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Calculator · ROI

ROI Calculator for Local Advertising

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Per-customer economics
Cost per lead (CPL)
$100

$5,000 / 50 leads

Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
$250

20 customers / month

Lifetime value (LTV) margin
$675

$1,500 LTV × 45% margin

ROI verdict
LTV:CAC ratio
2.7:1

Watch zone — diagnose before scaling

Monthly margin
$7,200

$16,000 revenue × 45%

ROI on ad spend
+44%

Margin minus spend / spend

LTV uses ticket × (1 + repeat × 2.5) — i.e., a 35% repeat rate implies the average customer comes back for ~0.875 additional jobs over the typical 24-month retention window. Industry standard for LTV:CAC: 3:1 healthy, 5:1+ underspending on growth, <2:1 likely losing money on acquisition.

The product

Three ways to deliver: tunnels, zones, background

WilDi Maps is not a single flat-rate product. You pick the tier that matches how local you need to be. All three are GPS-verified per claim — no auction, no exchange rake, no Middleman Tax.

Tunnel

1-mile road strip

Premium

Hyper-local, just-in-time

Lease a one-mile stretch. When a driver enters the strip, they get a just-in-time message — perfect for emergency services, on-route specials, and anything where being right there now beats brand awareness later.

Best for

  • · HVAC, plumbing, water restoration
  • · On-route specials (food, fuel, retail)
  • · Garage door, locksmith, urgent service
Zone

1-square-mile area

Premium

Hyper-local, area-based

Lease a one-square-mile block — not tied to a single road. Catches the residential cluster, retail district, or industrial park where your work actually lives. Same just-in-time delivery as tunnels; different geometry.

Best for

  • · Lawn care, pest control, pool services
  • · Tree services, landscaping
  • · Neighborhood-targeted retail
Background

City-wide rotation

$0.20

per claim, fixed

City-wide brand presence on rotation. Highest reach for the budget — best when familiarity beats precision. The $0.20 fixed rate is the only flat-rate tier WilDi sells.

Best for

  • · Restaurant brands, retail specials
  • · Veteran-owned trust signals
  • · Cross-vertical brand awareness

What the driver gets when an ad is claimed

Direct-drive turn-by-turn

If the driver wants to act on the ad, the app navigates them straight to the advertiser's location.

Website link

Click-through to any URL — ordering page, brand site, blog post, lead form.

App page

Open a specific page inside the WilDi app — promo details, daily specials, claim instructions.

See the full pricing breakdown on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate ROI on local advertising?

ROI = (gross margin from new customers − ad spend) ÷ ad spend. The honest version layers in repeat business: a single new customer is worth more than their first ticket because most local services have meaningful retention. We use LTV (lifetime value = avg ticket × (1 + repeat-rate × 2.5)) × gross margin as the per-customer value, then compare LTV-margin to CAC for the LTV:CAC ratio.

What's a healthy LTV:CAC ratio?

Industry standard for local services: 3:1 or higher (HubSpot, Bain). Below 3:1 means you're spending too much to acquire customers relative to what they're worth; above 5:1 generally means you're underspending on growth and could profitably invest more in acquisition. Some categories with strong recurring revenue (lawn care, pest control, pool service) target 5:1–10:1 because retention is so high.

How do I figure out my repeat rate?

Pull from your CRM or invoicing system: of customers acquired in a 12-month window, what % had at least one additional invoice in the next 12-24 months? Most home-services operators land at 30-50% repeat rate. Recurring service businesses (lawn, pest, pool) hit 70-85%. One-time-purchase businesses (real estate, moving) sit at 5-15% but get high referral rates.

What's the ROI threshold below which you should pause spend?

If your LTV:CAC drops below 2:1 sustained, you're losing money on growth — pause that channel and diagnose. Common causes: auction inflation (CPLs rose without your noticing), lead-quality degradation (close rate dropping), pricing erosion (avg ticket falling), or seasonality you didn't budget for. Don't pause too fast — month-to-month variance is normal; trend across 90 days.

How does CPVD change the ROI math?

CPVD's structural advantage is that the rate is fixed at $0.20 (background) — unlike auction-priced channels that inflate when competitors enter or seasons spike. Predictable unit cost makes CAC easier to forecast. Tunnels and zones are priced higher for hyper-local precision but the principle is the same: rate is fixed, which lets you model CAC at planning time instead of finding out at month-end. The LTV side of the ratio doesn't change, but a more stable CAC denominator stabilizes the whole equation.

What gross margin should I use?

Use your actual blended gross margin from the last 12 months of finished jobs. Industry rough ranges: HVAC 35-50%, plumbing 40-55%, roofing 25-40% (high materials cost), landscaping 40-55%, dental 50-65%, restaurants 60-70% (food cost is the dominant variable). Don't use revenue per customer; gross margin is what you actually keep.

Want a sanity check on your real numbers?

Sales will model CPVD against your actual CAC and LTV — and tell you honestly which corridors are worth a tunnel vs which should ride background.

Talk to sales