Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Definition: Customer Acquisition Cost is the total amount of cost paid in sales and marketing for every new customer. The figure is gotten after all the sales and marketing costs for the company that can be as simple as the amount paid to advertising and promotion to the total amount that is to be paid as salaries to the sales and marketing teams are divided by the number of customers that the company acquired.
Detailed Explanation
CAC is just the number used to calculate the investment in getting a new customer. This simple business metric can actually be used to indicate how efficient marketing strategies are, alongside pointing out the effectiveness of the sales force. When businesses fully grasp CAC, they can decide whether their growth strategy is sustainable, and they can actually know how they might want to adjust the marketing or sales process.
The typical formula to calculate CAC is:
CAC = (Total Marketing Costs + Sales Costs) / Number of New Customers Acquired
For a more granular view, CAC can be further broken down into:
CAC = (MCC + W + S + PS + O) / CA
- MCC: Total marketing campaign costs associated with acquisition
- W: Wages related to marketing and sales
- S: The full software selling and marketing
- PS: Any additional professional services (e.g., consultants) used in marketing/sales
- O: Overhead costs
- CA: Total customers acquired
Importance in the Sales Process
- Financial Efficiency: Know your CAC and ensure that the financial resources utilized to acquire a customer are apt and effective.
- Strategic Planning: The analytics of CAC can help firms change marketing strategies towards profitable channels and targeted customer segments.
- Performance Measurement: CAC provides the sales and marketing teams with a clear metric for measuring performance and return on investment from specific campaigns.
- Risk Management: Keeping track of CAC will help the businesses avoid further overspending on acquisition strategies that are failing to show enough return to benefit the long-term sustainability of the company.
Real-World Example
For an example of a SaaS firm spending $100,000 in marketing and sales during one quarter and acquiring 500 new customers, the CAC for that period would be:
CAC = $100,000 / 500 = $200 per customer
This could mean that the company is spending $200 for every new customer they acquire. Understanding this cost allows the company to track the trend and make any necessary adjustments to drive down CAC—by optimizing marketing channels or improving sales tactics, for instance.