Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator

Customer Acquisition Cost is the total sales and marketing spend divided by new customers acquired. The average B2B SaaS CAC is $702 according to FirstPageSage. It is the primary input for the LTV:CAC ratio, which should exceed 3:1 for a sustainable growth model.

Invest in organic channels (content, SEO, referrals), which carry 60-70% lower CAC than paid acquisition according to HubSpot. Improve funnel conversion rates at each stage, a 20% lift in close rate effectively halves CAC. Focus budget on customer segments with the highest lifetime value.

SaaS CAC varies by segment: SMB targets $100-500, mid-market $1,000-5,000, and enterprise $5,000-50,000 according to OpenView benchmarks. The key metric is LTV:CAC ratio, aim for 3:1 or higher regardless of absolute CAC.

Small businesses should keep CAC below 33% of customer lifetime value. For a customer worth $1,000 over their lifetime, CAC should be under $333. Service businesses average $200-500 CAC, while ecommerce averages $20-50. Track by channel to optimize spend.

Three proven approaches: invest in organic channels (content, SEO, referrals) which have 60-70% lower CAC than paid, improve conversion rates at each funnel stage (a 20% improvement halves your effective CAC), and focus on higher-LTV customer segments.

Calculate CAC monthly by channel and blended. Review trends quarterly. Include all sales and marketing costs, salaries, tools, ads, events, content. Many companies underestimate CAC by excluding headcount costs, which can represent 50-70% of true CAC.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the total cost of acquiring one new customer, including all marketing and sales expenses. It matters because if CAC exceeds customer lifetime value, you lose money on every customer. It is the foundation of sustainable growth.

LTV (Lifetime Value) is the total revenue a customer generates over the entire relationship with your business. Average SaaS LTV is 3-5 times the cost to acquire a customer with top performers reaching 7:1 according to ProfitWell data.

Lead scoring assigns numerical values to prospects based on their fit (company size, industry, job title) and engagement (email opens, page visits, content downloads). A score above 80 typically triggers sales outreach.

Cost Per Lead (CPL) is total marketing spend divided by leads generated in the same period. Industry averages range from $30 in education to $200 in technology according to HubSpot data.

Agency fees are calculated using three main models: monthly retainer (fixed fee for ongoing work, typically $3,000-$25,000/month), percentage of ad spend (usually 10-20% of managed budget), or project-based (one-time fee for defined deliverables).

B2B companies allocate 26% of their total marketing budget to content on average according to Content Marketing Institute data. For a $10,000/month marketing budget, that is $2,600 on content.