marketing
CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)
Cost to acquire one conversion - often used as a near-synonym for CAC in paid advertising.
Definition
CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) is what you spent divided by the number of conversions (sign-ups, purchases, qualified leads). It's the universal yardstick inside ad platforms. CPA differs from CAC slightly: CPA usually counts any conversion event (a lead, a trial), while CAC specifically counts paying customers. In B2B paid advertising, CPA for a qualified lead is typically $50-300; CPA for a customer can be 10-30x that depending on conversion rates downstream.
In your business
- →Track CPA per channel and per conversion stage (lead, trial, customer)
- →Set max CPA targets based on LTV - if max CPA is $200, that's your kill switch
- →CPA usually drifts up as you scale - budget for diminishing returns