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Concept8 min read

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

The fully loaded cost of acquiring a new customer — marketing spend plus sales expense divided by new customers won. CAC is the numerator of every subscription business's unit economics.

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What's inside

  • Definition
  • Why it matters
  • Formula
  • Units & benchmarks
  • Key levers
  • Where it shows up in cases
  • How it's charted
  • Worked example
  • Common traps
  • Industry nuances

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