cac calculator.
customer acquisition cost
- blended cac
- $50
- paid cac (spend-only)
- $71.43
- paid customers
- 210
- organic customers
- 90
> worked example
You spent $15,000 on marketing last month and acquired 300 new customers, blended CAC is $50. But 30% of those customers (90) came through organic search and social. The 210 paid customers each cost $71.43 to acquire. The organic cohort cost nothing in marginal spend, pulling your blended number down. Knowing both figures tells you which channel is subsidising which.
takeaway, Blended CAC flatters paid performance. Always separate organic from paid before benchmarking against LTV.
> when operators reach for this
- DTC founders reviewing monthly ad budgets who need to know whether their blended CAC has crept above LTV.
- Growth leads at subscription brands splitting channel-level spend to defend or cut a specific paid channel in a budget review.
- CMOs benchmarking CAC against industry cohorts, where the organic/paid split is the first thing anyone will ask about.
- Ecommerce operators setting a maximum CAC ceiling ahead of a paid scale test.
- Investors and CFOs stress-testing unit economics before a fundraise or board meeting.
> the calculation
- blended cac
total marketing spend ÷ new customers acquired - paid cac
total marketing spend ÷ paid customers acquiredPaid customers = total customers × (1 − organic %) - organic customers
total customers × organic %