Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): what it is and how to calculate it

In the world of customer experience, competition never slows down. Every euro spent on acquiring a new customer needs to be fully justified, because it is not just about closing a sale, but about building long-lasting, profitable relationships. For any CX leader, keeping a close eye on Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is far more than a financial metric: it is a compass that guides business strategy and profitability.

Yet the reality is that many companies still manage their marketing and sales efforts in silos, making it difficult to know exactly how much it truly costs to win over a new customer. Nielsen’s 2024 Annual Marketing Report puts it bluntly: only 38% of professionals evaluate ROI holistically, integrating all channels and touchpoints. The result? Most are still operating in the dark, without a unified view of their real acquisition costs.

In this article, we will explain what CAC is, how to calculate it in a simple way, and, most importantly, how to reduce it to boost your CX and improve the profitability of your marketing and sales strategy. Because measuring is only the first step; optimizing is where the real challenge lies.

What is Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)?

CAC is a key metric that measures the total investment a company makes to acquire a new customer or, in other words, the sum of all expenses involved in that process. At its core, it answers a simple but crucial question: on average, how much does it cost me to turn a potential customer into an actual one?

An essential metric for any customer-focused business

Accurately calculating CAC is key to making smart decisions about budgets, growth strategies, and profitability. If your Customer Acquisition Cost is too high, it can seriously impact the health of your business. But if you keep it under control, it becomes a powerful lever for sustainable growth.

In the world of customer experience, where the pressure to attract and retain is constant, knowing your CAC helps you stay ahead, adapt, and keep evolving.

How is CAC calculated?

The basic formula for calculating CAC is simple. It is the total cost of acquiring customers divided by the number of new customers gained during the same period.

For example, a quarterly investment of 50.000 € in marketing and sales that brings in 100 new customers results in a CAC of 500 €. But in reality, things are rarely that straightforward. To calculate CAC accurately, you not only need to define the time frame, you also have to factor in all direct and indirect costs, such as:

• salaries of the sales and marketing teams,
• technology tools and platforms,
• advertising campaigns,
• commissions,
• training,
• events, and
• any other expense related to customer acquisition.

Only then will you have a complete and honest view of what it truly costs to win each new customer. Because in CX, every euro matters, and every decision moves you closer to, or further from, excellence.

Information fragmentation: a major challenge in controlling CAC

As you can see, calculating CAC is not just about running a formula. Behind that number lie countless variables that can make the difference between profitable growth and losing direction. And this is where the real challenge for any business leader comes in: information fragmentation.

When data is scattered across different teams and tools, gaining a clear, unified view of how much it really costs to acquire each customer becomes almost impossible. The result? Decisions based on assumptions, missed opportunities, and underused resources.

In many organizations, digital marketing data (from web, social media, email, paid ads, etc.) is managed separately from contact center data (calls, support tickets, in-person interactions). This separation creates data silos that make it difficult to get an accurate, big-picture view of the acquisition process.

According to the article Master data management: The key to getting more from your data published by McKinsey, “71% of companies face challenges related to incomplete access to data”, which makes it harder to build a unified view of the customer and to track their journey effectively.

This lack of integration means that, at best, CAC is often just an estimate. Without a 360º view, there is no way to know with confidence which channels are truly performing, where potential customers are slipping away, or how to optimize spending at each stage of the journey.

It is also essential to distinguish CAC from Lifetime Value (LTV). While CAC measures how much it costs to acquire a new customer, LTV shows how much value that customer generates over the entire course of their relationship with your company. The balance between these two metrics is key: a higher CAC might be perfectly acceptable if it is accompanied by a proportionally larger increase in LTV. In other words, the goal is not just to lower CAC, but to ensure that the relationship between what it costs to acquire a customer and what that customer contributes in the long run is positive, sustainable, and profitable.

Why is controlling CAC so important?

For any business leader in the CX space, CAC is far more than just a financial metric: it is a thermometer for the efficiency of the entire organization:

• A high CAC may point to inefficiencies in your processes, misalignment between marketing and sales, or even a weak value proposition that fails to resonate with your audience.
• An optimized CAC, on the other hand, lets you invest more confidently in growth, improve profitability, and gain a competitive edge in a market where customer experience makes all the difference.

Controlling CAC is not just about crunching numbers, it is about vision, strategy, and above all, putting the customer at the heart of every decision.

How to reduce CAC: key strategies to make it happen

Reducing CAC is a top priority for any company looking to grow profitably. Here are some key strategies to help you get there:

• Optimize marketing and sales processes: automate repetitive tasks, improve segmentation, and personalize every campaign. When marketing and sales are aligned, with shared goals and integrated workflows, the impact is exponential. Less friction, better results.
• Improve lead quality: it is not about impressing everyone, but about winning over the right people. Focus your efforts on attracting high-converting prospects by using advanced analytics to identify the most valuable customer profiles.
• Increase conversion rates: analyze your sales funnel to find drop-off points and fine-tune every stage, from lead capture to closing. Small adjustments can lead to big gains.
• Encourage loyalty and cross-selling: a happy customer is your best ambassador: they do not just come back, they recommend your brand and generate new business at a lower cost. Customer experience does not end with the sale, that is where the real value begins.
• Track and analyze in real time: having up-to-date dashboards and KPIs allows you to make quick, informed decisions and correct course when needed. Data is power, but only if it is accessible and actionable.

That said, all of these strategies have one thing in common: the need for unified, reliable information. Without a global view, any optimization effort will be partial, and often ineffective. That Is how CAC management turns into a true lever for growth and customer experience.

The qualitative leap: unify your CX management with a single platform

This is where technology truly makes a difference. Imagine having full control, in one place, over everything happening across your marketing and sales teams, both online and offline. Seeing every interaction, every campaign, every call, and knowing exactly how much each action costs and what it delivers, all from a single platform. That is exactly what Infunnel offers you.

The ultimate solution to optimize your CAC and transform the customer experience

Infunnel goes far beyond what a traditional CRM or basic marketing automation platform can do. It’s a comprehensive solution that brings together all your customer relationship channels into a single system, whether digital, like WhatsApp, social media, email, and paid campaigns, or traditional, like managing phone calls through the contact center.

Thanks to its omnichannel approach, Infunnel bridges the gap between the online world: websites, social media, email, chatbots, or virtual assistants, and the offline world of phone calls, in-person service, or support tickets. The result is a true 360º view of each customer and of your entire acquisition process.

Why does Infunnel stand out from other software platforms?

Infunnel redefines customer journey management by bringing together every customer touchpoint, from first interaction to post-sale, into a single, unified platform. Say goodbye to fragmented systems: here, marketing automation, CRM, and contact center tools work natively and in perfect sync, breaking down silos and giving you complete visibility into every lead and customer journey.

1. Smart automation with no technical limits

With Infunnel, you can design and launch workflows through an intuitive visual interface. This lets you tailor every interaction to match the customer’s lifecycle stage, ensuring each message arrives at the right moment with the most relevant content. The platform also gives you full creative freedom to adapt your messaging and design, including support for WhatsApp HSM templates, so your communication always stays on-brand and delivers real impact.

2. Advanced personalization for every customer

Segment your audience and trigger hyper-personalized campaigns based on each lead’s behavior, interests, or history. This way, you can nurture prospects with relevant content, boost your conversion rate, and build stronger, longer-lasting relationships.

3. Real-time analytics with AI assistants for faster, smarter decisions

Infunnel’s advanced analytics provide real-time dashboards for every customer touchpoint, making it easy to track campaign performance, conversion rates by segment, lead scoring, and sales attribution. On top of that, Infunnel’s built-in AI assistant helps you calculate CAC accurately, quickly identify the most impactful actions, and fine-tune your strategy. Decision-making becomes proactive, driven by reliable, up-to-date data.

4. Omnichannel integration and total connectivity

Infunnel connects natively with platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, TikTok, email and SMS systems, and the contact center, giving you a complete view of each lead’s activity. This omnichannel integration allows you to coordinate campaigns across all touchpoints, ensuring a seamless and consistent customer experience, no matter where or how your audience engages.

In short, Infunnel breaks down silos, optimizes every customer interaction, and, thanks to its advanced analytics and multichannel personalization, helps you identify and amplify the actions that truly convert. The result: a significant reduction in CAC and maximum ROI on your acquisition efforts, while taking your customer experience to the next level.

The future of customer acquisition is here with Infunnel

For any business or marketing leader, having the real ability to measure and optimize CAC is not just about efficiency, it is the key to growing instead of falling behind. With Infunnel, you can finally say goodbye to data silos and incomplete reports.

If you are ready to transform how you attract and manage customers, and turn acquisition into your greatest competitive edge, Infunnel makes it simple. Talk to an expert today.