Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
The average cost to acquire one paying customer through a specific marketing channel or campaign.
Why it matters
CPA tells you exactly how much each new customer costs through a given channel, enabling you to compare channel efficiency and optimize marketing spend allocation.
Formula
Divide total campaign spend (including ad cost, creative production, and tools) by the number of customers acquired from that campaign.
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What's a good CPA?
Target CPA should be less than 1/3 of CLV for healthy unit economics. Varies widely by industry and channel.
Related metrics
CAC
SaaSThe total cost of acquiring a new customer, including all sales and marketing expenses.
ROAS
MarketingThe revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising, measuring the effectiveness of ad campaigns.
CVR
MarketingThe percentage of visitors or leads who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up.