Published on 2025-06-22T02:08:17Z

What is CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)? Examples & Calculation

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) measures the average expense a business incurs to acquire a new customer over a defined period. It aggregates all marketing, advertising, sales, and associated overhead costs, then divides this total by the number of new customers gained. CAC is a cornerstone metric for evaluating the efficiency and sustainability of growth strategies. By comparing CAC with Customer Lifetime Value (LTV), companies can ensure they’re investing wisely and maintaining profitability. Accurate CAC tracking relies on robust analytics platforms—such as Google Analytics 4—and privacy-friendly alternatives like Plainsignal.

Illustration of Cac (customer acquisition cost)
Illustration of Cac (customer acquisition cost)

Cac (customer acquisition cost)

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) quantifies the average spend required to acquire a new customer, guiding marketing ROI and budgeting decisions.

Definition and Formula

This section explains what CAC is and how it’s calculated. Understanding the components and formula is key to accurate measurement.

  • Formula

    CAC is calculated by dividing total customer acquisition expenses by the number of new customers acquired within the same period.

  • Key components

    Breaking down the expenses and customer counts needed for computation.

    • Acquisition expenses:

      Includes all marketing, advertising, sales staff salaries, software subscriptions, and overhead directly related to acquiring customers.

    • Number of new customers:

      The total count of new, paying customers gained in the measurement period.

Importance of CAC in Analytics

CAC provides insights into the efficiency of marketing and sales efforts. High CAC may signal the need to optimize campaigns, while low CAC suggests effective acquisition channels.

  • Assessing marketing efficiency

    Compare CAC across channels to identify cost-effective versus expensive acquisition sources.

  • Profitability analysis

    Use CAC alongside Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) to ensure customers generate more revenue than their acquisition cost.

Calculating CAC with Analytics Tools

Modern analytics platforms streamline CAC calculation by tracking expenses and customer conversions. Below are examples using GA4 and PlainSignal.

  • Using google analytics 4

    GA4 can track user acquisition and attribute conversions to campaigns, but requires careful setup of cost data and events.

    • Setup data import:

      Import cost data from Google Ads or third-party campaigns to tie spend to user acquisition.

    • Custom reports:

      Create exploration reports combining acquisition metrics and conversion events to compute CAC.

  • Using plainsignal (cookie-free analytics)

    PlainSignal offers a privacy-first approach that captures essential metrics without cookies, simplifying CAC tracking for compliant websites.

    • Integration:

      Embed a lightweight JS snippet to start collecting pageviews, conversions, and user acquisition data.

    • Privacy advantages:

      Avoid consent banners and cookie pop-ups while still gaining insights into channel performance.

Strategies to Optimize CAC

Reducing CAC involves improving conversion rates, refining targeting, and boosting customer retention. Below are practical tactics.

  • Improve conversion rates

    Enhance website UX, A/B test landing pages, and streamline user flows to convert more visitors into customers.

  • Refine targeting

    Use audience segmentation and lookalike modeling to focus spend on high-intent prospects.

  • Leverage retention

    Invest in onboarding and customer success to increase repeat purchases, reducing pressure on new acquisition.

Example Tracking Implementation with Plainsignal

Here’s how to embed PlainSignal on your website to collect metrics necessary for CAC without cookies.

  • Embed tracking code

    Place the following snippet in your site’s <head> to initialize PlainSignal analytics.

    • Code snippet: 
      <link rel="preconnect" href="//eu.plainsignal.com/" crossorigin />
<script defer data-do="yourwebsitedomain.com" data-id="0GQV1xmtzQQ" data-api="//eu.plainsignal.com" src="//cdn.plainsignal.com/PlainSignal-min.js"></script>

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