# Goals your client understands: from target revenue to media budget

> Start from the revenue your client wants and work backwards: average order, conversion and cost per visit reveal the budget and ROAS you need.

- URL: https://relator.digital/en/blog/metas-que-o-cliente-entende
- Publicado: 2026-10-28
- Atualizado: 2026-10-28
- Autor: João Vitor Moitinho
- Categoria: agency-reporting

The goal your client understands is the one they would say themselves: "I want the online store to bring in R$ 120,000 a month." The agency's job is to turn that sentence into media numbers by working backwards: revenue, orders, visits and, finally, budget. When a goal is built this way, the client can check every step and knows exactly what has to be true for it to be met.

> [!NOTE]
> **In short**
> - Start from the revenue or number of sales the client wants, not from the available budget.
> - Divide by the average order value to get orders; divide by the conversion rate to get visits or leads.
> - Multiply by the cost of each visit or lead to get the budget. Revenue divided by budget is the ROAS you need.
> - Use the client's actual rates from recent months, not market averages, and show what happens if one gets worse.
> - Track pace during the month, not just at month end.

## Why the goal has to start from revenue

Many media goals are built the other way around. The client says how much they can spend, the agency picks a "good" ROAS or CPA, and everyone hopes the revenue shows up. The problem is that the client doesn't think in ROAS. They think in revenue, cash and how many sales their team can handle.

When the goal starts from revenue, the conversation changes. Instead of debating whether a ROAS of 3 is good, you discuss whether 400 orders a month are possible with the site, the stock and the budget that exist. Every number in the chain becomes a concrete question, and every question has an owner.

This also protects the agency. If the revenue goal depends on a site conversion rate the agency doesn't control, that is written down from day one. In the month conversion drops, the explanation is already in the goal's own math.

## Work the math backwards

The math has four steps. Here is a hypothetical example, with numbers made up for illustration, of an online store that wants R$ 120,000 a month from paid media:

![Goal chain: R$ 120,000 in revenue, divided by an average order of R$ 300, gives 400 orders; divided by 2% conversion, gives 20,000 sessions; times R$ 1.50 per session, gives R$ 30,000 in media](https://uploads.relator.digital/blog/metas-que-o-cliente-entende/5638bd72-fig-conta.en.svg "The budget comes from the goal, not the other way around")

1. **Target revenue:** R$ 120,000.
2. **Orders needed:** revenue divided by average order value. With a R$ 300 average order, that is 120,000 ÷ 300 = 400 orders.
3. **Visits needed:** orders divided by the site conversion rate. With 2% of sessions turning into an order, that is 400 ÷ 0.02 = 20,000 sessions from media.
4. **Budget needed:** sessions times the cost of each session. At R$ 1.50 per session, that is 20,000 × 1.50 = R$ 30,000.

In the end, revenue divided by budget gives the ROAS (return on ad spend) the goal requires: 120,000 ÷ 30,000 = 4.0. That is the ROAS that comes out of the math, not a number chosen beforehand.

Cost per session is spend divided by the sessions media brought in during the period. It depends on cost per click and on how many clicks actually become sessions, so use the value measured in the account itself.

## Use the client's rates, not the market's

Each step uses a rate: average order value, conversion and cost per session. The temptation is to use a market average someone published. Don't. A furniture store's conversion rate has nothing to do with a cosmetics store's, and even two stores in the same industry can have very different rates.

Use the client's last three to six months, ideally the months most similar to the one you are planning. In GA4, **session key event rate** is the percentage of sessions in which a key event, such as a purchase, happened. Filtered to paid media sessions, it is a good starting point for step 3. Average order value should come from the store platform or the CRM, which record the actual sale.

If the client is new and has no history, say so. Make the first goal a hypothesis, with the rates you expect, and set a date to replace the hypotheses with measured rates, usually after the first full month.

## Show what happens if a rate gets worse

A goal with a single number hides the risk. Show the client how the budget changes when one rate changes. In the same hypothetical example:

| Scenario | Site conversion | Sessions | Budget needed | ROAS needed |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Lower conversion | 1.5% | 26,667 | R$ 40,000 | 3.0 |
| Base | 2.0% | 20,000 | R$ 30,000 | 4.0 |
| Higher conversion | 2.5% | 16,000 | R$ 24,000 | 5.0 |

The math: 400 ÷ 0.015 ≈ 26,667 sessions and 26,667 × 1.50 ≈ R$ 40,000; 400 ÷ 0.025 = 16,000 sessions and 16,000 × 1.50 = R$ 24,000. The ROAS values are 120,000 ÷ 40,000 = 3.0 and 120,000 ÷ 24,000 = 5.0.

The table shows something the client needs to see: with conversion 0.5 points lower, the same revenue costs R$ 10,000 more in media. That opens two useful conversations. The first is about improving the site, which may be worth more than raising the budget. The second is about what to do if the available budget is R$ 30,000 and conversion drops: accept lower revenue or spend more.

## For leads, the math gets one more step

When the sale happens off the site, as in services, real estate or B2B, the chain goes through the sales team. Another hypothetical example: a company wants to close 20 sales a month.

1. **Target sales:** 20.
2. **Qualified leads:** if sales closes 20% of qualified leads, that is 20 ÷ 0.20 = 100.
3. **Total leads:** if 40% of leads pass qualification, that is 100 ÷ 0.40 = 250.
4. **Budget:** at R$ 60 per lead, that is 250 × 60 = R$ 15,000.

Here the rates in steps 2 and 3 come from the CRM, not from the ad platform. That is why a lead goal also has to be agreed with the people who sell. If sales can't handle 250 leads a month, the goal doesn't work, no matter how cheap the lead is.

## Check the budget against platform forecasts

Once the math gives you a budget, check whether it is realistic in the auction. In Google Ads, **Performance Planner** generates monthly and quarterly performance forecasts, updated daily based on the last 7 to 10 days, and shows how budget changes may affect key metrics. It supports Search, Shopping, Performance Max, Demand Gen and App campaigns. Since March 9, 2026, it no longer plans Display and Video campaigns. To be included, a Search, Shopping or Performance Max campaign needs, among other requirements, at least 1 conversion and no bid strategy change in the last 10 days.

If the forecast shows that doubling the budget doesn't double conversions, that is normal: more budget usually buys more expensive clicks. Bring that into the goal math, with a higher cost per session in the high-budget scenarios.

## Track pace, not just month end

A monthly goal is only useful if you know mid-month whether it will be met. Divide the goal by the days in the month, or by each week's weight if the client has seasonality within the month, and compare the running total with what was expected by today. If revenue is at 40% of the goal on the 15th, you have two weeks to act, not a bad report to explain.

In Relator Digital, you set targets for spend, ROAS, CPA, revenue or leads, and the product compares the running total with the expected pace, shows where the month is likely to close and alerts you when the goal falls off pace.

## How to apply it

1. Ask the client for the revenue or number of sales they want each month. Write it down in their words.
2. Pull the last three to six months: average order value from the store or CRM, media session conversion in GA4 and cost per session or per lead.
3. Work the math backwards until you reach the budget and the ROAS or CPA required.
4. Build a table with at least one worse and one better scenario, changing the most uncertain rate.
5. Check the budget with Google Ads Performance Planner or with the account's scaling history.
6. Agree on the goal in writing, with the rates it assumes and who owns each one.
7. Track pace weekly and redo the math when a rate changes consistently.

## Sources

- [Google Ads: about Performance Planner](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9230124?hl=en) — forecasts, supported campaign types, end of Display and Video support, and requirements (accessed October 28, 2026).
- [Google Analytics: GA4 dimensions and metrics](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9143382?hl=en) — definition of session key event rate (accessed October 28, 2026).