Example of calculating customer acquisition cost
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2025 4:38 am
Let's review an example to help you better understand how customer acquisition costs work and what influence they can have on a company's decision-making:
Let's imagine a SaaS company that sells a management tool for the food service industry. This tool uses artificial intelligence to calculate how many employees are needed each day of the week.
To calculate the costs of this software to attract new customers, the company must consider the following areas:
The salaries of marketing and sales teams
Investments in SEO (online search engine optimization)
Investing in SEA (search engine advertising, such as pay-per-click ads)
Product presentations at trade shows and other events
The list of expenses would be similar to this (we used values in Mexican pesos as a reference for this fictitious company):
Bills
Monthly expenses
Salaries
262,500 MX$
SEO
8,750 MX$
SEA
17,500 MX$
Fairs and events
52,500 MX$
Total expenses
341,250 MX$
How to calculate CAC
The example we just saw shows the company's total expenses for its marketing investments and sales teams. Now, to calculate the actual customer acquisition cost, the company must divide those expenses by the number of customers acquired.
Let's assume the company acquired 250 customers during the campaign period. The final CAC would be MX$1,365 per customer acquired.
Let's look at the simplified formula for customer acquisition cost:
CAC = marketing expenses + sales expenses / number bc data hong kong of customers acquired
It's worth noting that CAC is generally calculated monthly. However, it's possible to calculate it quarterly or even annually. The important thing to note is that the period analyzed is the same for both added overhead and acquisitions.
Recommended reading
Cost of sales: what it is and how to reduce it
CAC vs. CLV
Calculating and analyzing customer acquisition costs is key for companies to determine the effectiveness of their customer acquisition efforts. But this metric shouldn't be analyzed in isolation. Ideally, it should be studied alongside other key indicators.
For example, customer lifetime value (CLV) or simply LTV (Customer Lifetime Value) allows us to understand the profit margin a customer generates for a company during their life cycle. CLV is an excellent benchmark for determining whether CAC is low or high. Why? Because it links the average time a customer remains with the brand to their spending during the same period and the cost to the company of acquiring them.
Let's imagine a SaaS company that sells a management tool for the food service industry. This tool uses artificial intelligence to calculate how many employees are needed each day of the week.
To calculate the costs of this software to attract new customers, the company must consider the following areas:
The salaries of marketing and sales teams
Investments in SEO (online search engine optimization)
Investing in SEA (search engine advertising, such as pay-per-click ads)
Product presentations at trade shows and other events
The list of expenses would be similar to this (we used values in Mexican pesos as a reference for this fictitious company):
Bills
Monthly expenses
Salaries
262,500 MX$
SEO
8,750 MX$
SEA
17,500 MX$
Fairs and events
52,500 MX$
Total expenses
341,250 MX$
How to calculate CAC
The example we just saw shows the company's total expenses for its marketing investments and sales teams. Now, to calculate the actual customer acquisition cost, the company must divide those expenses by the number of customers acquired.
Let's assume the company acquired 250 customers during the campaign period. The final CAC would be MX$1,365 per customer acquired.
Let's look at the simplified formula for customer acquisition cost:
CAC = marketing expenses + sales expenses / number bc data hong kong of customers acquired
It's worth noting that CAC is generally calculated monthly. However, it's possible to calculate it quarterly or even annually. The important thing to note is that the period analyzed is the same for both added overhead and acquisitions.
Recommended reading
Cost of sales: what it is and how to reduce it
CAC vs. CLV
Calculating and analyzing customer acquisition costs is key for companies to determine the effectiveness of their customer acquisition efforts. But this metric shouldn't be analyzed in isolation. Ideally, it should be studied alongside other key indicators.
For example, customer lifetime value (CLV) or simply LTV (Customer Lifetime Value) allows us to understand the profit margin a customer generates for a company during their life cycle. CLV is an excellent benchmark for determining whether CAC is low or high. Why? Because it links the average time a customer remains with the brand to their spending during the same period and the cost to the company of acquiring them.