Calculate CAC Payback Before Scaling a Channel
Calculate CAC payback and interpret whether a channel is ready to scale.
Marketing spent $96,000 on paid search. The campaign produced 32 customers with $750 average MRR and 76 percent gross margin. The team must decide whether the channel is ready for more budget. CAC payback = acquisition cost divided by monthly gross margin from the acquired cohort. The common shortcut is to celebrate cost per demo or bookings without checking how long gross margin takes to repay the acquisition spend. Define CAC $96,000 campaign spend / 32 customers = $3,000 CAC per customer. Use the cost tied to acquiring this cohort. If sales development or agency cost is material, include it…
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