← DictionaryCost Per Acquisition
also called cost per action
The average cost of producing one conversion or customer.
What each sale cost you to get.
What It Is
You will find Cost Per Acquisition in the Measurement layer, alongside the rest of Conversion. What it actually refers to is the average cost of producing one conversion or customer.
It is something measured and compared over time, so one reading in isolation tells you almost nothing. Once it is defined that clearly, arguments about it usually stop.
How It's Used
Most of the time Cost Per Acquisition is used in reporting, analytics reviews and the arguments about what the numbers mean. It is usually discussed together with Customer Acquisition Cost, Return on Ad Spend and Ad Spend. The practical test is whether it is measured the same way each period, against something.
Why It Matters
Ignoring Cost Per Acquisition rarely fails loudly — it fails slowly. When it is unclear, reporting becomes a matter of opinion. It is worth pinning down before anyone builds on top of it.
It is a number on a dial. The number only means something next to yesterday's number. What each sale cost you to get.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Practitioners use Cost Per Acquisition as shorthand and expect no explanation — the average cost of producing one conversion or customer.
Outside the industry, most people would just say: what each sale cost you to get.
The Bottom Line
If you only keep one thing about Cost Per Acquisition: what each sale cost you to get. Everything after that is detail.