> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.roivenue.com/roivenue-resources/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.roivenue.com/roivenue-resources/roivenue-training/roivenue-app/reports/budget-optimizer.md).
# Budget Optimizer
Budget Optimizer recommends how to split your marketing budget across channels, offers ways to plan or test a budget, and shows how confident each estimate is.
Budget Optimizer looks at how your channels performed in the past and estimates where an extra euro brings the most, and where spend no longer pays off. Instead of one "optimal split", it gives you several ways to plan the budget and tells you how confident it is about every row, so you can decide how far to follow it.
Use Budget Optimizer when you want to know:
* Which channels should get more budget and which should get less?
* How should you split an extra amount, or a cut, between selected channels?
* Can the same total budget bring more if you split it differently?
* What happens if you set the spend of each channel yourself?
The page has four parts:
1. **Settings:** the goal, the data the optimizer learns from and the spend limits.
2. **KPI cards:** the summary of the current and the recommended or proposed plan.
3. **Tabs:** **Recommendations**, **Planning**, **Redistribute** and **What-If**, four ways to plan the budget.
4. **Not Estimated:** channels the optimizer could not estimate, with the reason.
To open the page, go to **Reports → Budget Optimizer V2** in the left navigation. In the header, choose the currency and the attribution model. Above the tabs, choose the **Site** and the **Dimension** the budget is split by, for example **Platform Name**.
***
#### How to choose the goal
The goal decides what the optimizer maximizes.
| Goal | When to use it |
| ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Max marketing profit** | You want the most profit from marketing. Spend goes where it still earns more than it costs. |
| **Balanced** | You want a compromise between profit and revenue growth. |
| **Max net revenue** | You want growth. Spend goes where it brings the most revenue, even when the profit per euro is lower. |
| **Conversions** | You want the most conversions, for example when revenue is not the main KPI. |
***
#### How to set what the optimizer learns from
| Setting | What it does |
| ------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Learning window** | The period of past data the optimizer uses for its estimates. |
| **Unusual weeks** | Weeks that do not represent normal performance, for example a big sale or a tracking outage. Mark them, so they do not distort the estimates. |
| **Spend limits** | The minimum and maximum spend the optimizer can recommend for a channel, for example a contract minimum or a cap you cannot exceed. |
***
#### How to read the Recommendations tab
**Recommendations** shows, for each channel, the current spend and the spend the optimizer recommends for your goal, together with the expected effect on revenue, profit or conversions.
Every row has a **confidence** and a **± range**:
* **Confidence** tells you how sure the optimizer is about the recommendation. High confidence means the channel's past data clearly shows how results react to spend.
* **± range** shows how far the real result can differ from the estimate. A wide range means the estimate is uncertain.
Follow high-confidence recommendations first. Treat low-confidence rows as a hint to test, not as a plan.
The **KPI cards** above the table summarize the current and the recommended weekly spend and the estimated results.
***
#### How to plan an extra amount or a cut
Use **Planning** when you know how much you want to add or remove:
1. Pick the channels you want to work with.
2. Enter the amount to add, or to remove.
3. The optimizer splits the amount between the selected channels so that it brings the best result for your goal.
***
#### How to redistribute the same budget
Use **Redistribute** when the total budget stays the same:
1. Pick the channels.
2. The optimizer re-splits their current total spend between them for the best result.
The total does not change. Only the split between the channels does.
***
#### How to test your own budget in What-If
Use **What-If** when you want to set the spend yourself and see the expected impact. The estimates are calculated live from each channel's fitted response curve.
1. Under **Start from**, choose the starting spend:
* **Current** uses the current spend.
* **Scratch** sets all spend to zero.
* **Recommended** uses the recommended spend where there is one.
2. Change the spend in the **Your spend** column.
3. Check the KPI cards: **New Weekly Spend**, **Estimated Net Revenue Impact**, **Estimated Marketing Profit Impact** and **Blended ROAS**, each with its expected range.
4. Check the table: **Est. Revenue**, **Est. Gross Profit**, **Est. Marketing Profit** and **Est. mROAS** for every channel.
The table has two parts:
* **Components with a fitted response curve:** channels the optimizer can estimate.
* **Not Estimated:** spend that is not modelled. Rows the optimizer does not advise on, or that have no fitted curve, are locked and keep their current spend. The estimates do not cover them.
Choosing a starting point replaces every spend you entered in editable rows.
To keep a plan, click **Save As Scenario**. Scenarios are saved to your account, not to your browser, and store only the channels you changed. Use **Compare Scenarios** to compare saved scenarios.
***
#### Why a channel is in Not Estimated
Some channels do not have enough reliable data for an estimate. The optimizer moves them to the **Not Estimated** list and gives a plain reason for each of them, so you know what to fix. Common reasons are too little history, spend that barely changes week to week, or very small spend.
What you can do:
* Wait until the channel collects more data.
* Change its spend for a few weeks, so the optimizer can see how results react.
* Merge small channels into a bigger group, for example with a custom dimension.
***
#### How to work with the recommendations
Budget Optimizer gives statistical recommendations. It does not know about everything that affects your results, such as a new creative, a competitor's campaign, stock levels or seasonality outside the learning window. You decide how to turn a recommendation into a real budget change.
1. **Set the goal** and check the settings.
2. **Check confidence and the ± range.** Start with high-confidence rows.
3. **Validate the recommendation** in [Model Comparison](https://docs.roivenue.com/roivenue-resources/roivenue-training/roivenue-app/attribution/model-comparison). Check that the channel's role looks the same across attribution models.
4. **Test your plan in What-If** before you change the budget.
5. **Change the budget step by step** and write down what you changed and when.
6. **Evaluate the results** after a week or two. Compare them with your goal.
7. **Repeat.** Keep what worked and adjust what did not.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Tip:** Large one-time changes make it hard to see what worked. Smaller steps give the optimizer new data at different spend levels, so its next recommendations get more confident.
{% endhint %}
***
**FAQ**
1. Why is a channel missing from the recommendations?
It is probably in the **Not Estimated** list. Check the reason next to it. Most often the channel has too little data or its spend did not change enough for the optimizer to estimate how results react.
2. Why does a recommendation have low confidence or a wide range?
The channel's past results vary a lot at similar spend, or the channel has few weeks of data. The optimizer then cannot tell precisely how results react to spend. Treat the recommendation as a direction to test in small steps.
3. Which goal should I choose?
Choose **Max marketing profit** when profitability matters most, **Max net revenue** when growth matters most, and **Balanced** when you need both. Choose **Conversions** when you measure success in conversions rather than revenue.
4. What is the difference between Planning, Redistribute and What-If?
**Planning** splits an amount you add or remove. **Redistribute** keeps the total spend of the selected channels and only changes the split between them. In **What-If**, you set the spend yourself and the optimizer only estimates the impact.
5. Can I save a What-If plan?
Yes. Click **Save As Scenario**. Scenarios are saved to your account, so you can open them in another browser, and you can compare them with **Compare Scenarios**.
6. Should I exclude a week with a big promotion?
Yes, if the week does not represent normal performance. Mark it in **Unusual weeks**, so it does not distort the estimates.
7. Why does the optimizer recommend less spend on a channel that performs well?
Good average performance does not mean that the next euro performs as well. When a channel is close to saturation, extra spend brings less and less. The optimizer looks at the effect of additional spend, not at the average.
8. Why can't I find a dimension in Budget Optimizer?
Some dimensions are hidden on certain pages. Go to **Data → Dimensions**, open the settings of the dimension and check whether **Hide in Budget Optimizer** is on.