Jan 6, 2026
Customer Acquisition Cost
CAC
The total cost to acquire one new customer, including all sales and marketing expenses—not just ad spend.
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Formula:
Total S&M Spend ÷ New Customers
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Benchmarks
SaaS: $200-500 typical. E-commerce: $20-100. B2B enterprise: $5,000+. Compare to LTV.
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Why It Matters
CAC differs from CPA. CPA = ad cost per conversion. CAC includes salaries, tools, content, everything. For accurate unit economics, calculate true CAC. If CAC rises while LTV stays flat, you have a problem.
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