← DictionaryCustomer Acquisition Cost
also called acquisition cost
The total cost of marketing and sales divided by the customers acquired.
What it costs you to get one customer.
What It Is
Customer Acquisition Cost sits on the Business side of the work, in the Unit Economics area. What it actually refers to is the total cost of marketing and sales divided by the customers acquired.
It is something measured and compared over time, so one reading in isolation tells you almost nothing. That is the version worth keeping, because it survives contact with a real project.
How It's Used
Most of the time Customer Acquisition Cost is used in commercial decisions, pricing conversations and how the business runs. It is usually discussed together with Lifetime Value, Cost Per Lead and Return on Investment. The practical test is whether it is measured the same way each period, against something.
Why It Matters
Ignoring Customer Acquisition Cost rarely fails loudly — it fails slowly. When it is unclear, margin leaks in places nobody is looking. 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 it costs you to get one customer.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Practitioners use Customer Acquisition Cost as shorthand and expect no explanation — the total cost of marketing and sales divided by the customers acquired.
Outside the industry, most people would just say: what it costs you to get one customer.
The Bottom Line
Treat Customer Acquisition Cost as a decision, not a description. What it costs you to get one customer.