Glossary/Marketing Finance/Magic Number
Marketing Finance
Magic Number
A SaaS efficiency metric: quarterly increase in recurring revenue, annualized, divided by the prior quarter's sales and marketing spend.
By Brandon Mina·CEO, BrandPilot AI·Updated November 2026
Short answer
The magic number is a SaaS efficiency metric calculated as the quarterly increase in recurring revenue, annualized, divided by the prior quarter's sales and marketing spend. It shows how much new recurring revenue each dollar of go-to-market spend produces. Companies use it to decide whether to accelerate or slow sales and marketing investment.