CAC Tracker by Channel

Pro v1.0.0 1 view

Calculate true Customer Acquisition Cost by marketing channel. Uncover hidden costs (tools, team time, overhead), allocate shared expenses, benchmark against industry standards, and identify which channels are truly profitable.

What You Get

Calculate true CAC including hidden costs to make accurate budget allocation and channel optimization decisions

The Problem

Most marketers calculate Customer Acquisition Cost by simply dividing ad spend by customers acquired, but this reveals only 60-80% of the true cost. Hidden costs like marketing tools, team salaries, content creation, and overhead typically account for 20-40% of total acquisition spend. When you only track direct ad spend, you get dangerously incomplete unit economics that lead to flawed budget allocation decisions and unprofitable scaling.

The Solution

This skill calculates true CAC by capturing all marketing costs and allocating them proportionally across channels. It captures all cost categories including direct channel spend, marketing tools and software, team salaries, content production, agency fees, and overhead. It allocates shared costs by distributing multi-channel expenses proportionally based on spend or customer acquisition, calculates true CAC per channel showing the complete cost to acquire a customer not just ad spend, benchmarks against industry standards using web research to compare your CAC to industry benchmarks, ranks channels by efficiency to identify which have the best unit economics and which are profit-killers, and provides actionable recommendations on which channels to scale, optimize, or reduce based on efficiency and strategic fit. The skill handles incomplete data gracefully—if you don't have all costs, it guides you through options (quick estimate, industry averages, or full analysis) and clearly notes limitations.

How It Works

  1. 1 Gather direct channel costs including ad spend and channel-specific freelancers or contractors
  2. 2 Identify shared marketing costs including tools, team time, content creation, agency fees, and overhead
  3. 3 Collect customer acquisition numbers by channel for the same time period
  4. 4 Allocate shared costs proportionally across channels based on spend or customer acquisition
  5. 5 Calculate true CAC per channel showing complete cost including both direct and allocated shared costs
  6. 6 Benchmark against industry standards using web research for your industry and channels
  7. 7 Rank channels by efficiency and provide recommendations on which to scale, optimize, or reduce

What You'll Need

  • Direct channel costs (ad spend, channel-specific expenses) by marketing channel
  • Customer acquisition numbers by channel for the same time period
  • Optional: Shared marketing costs (tools, team salaries, content production, overhead) for complete analysis
  • Optional: Industry and business model context for benchmark comparisons

Get This Skill

Requires Pro subscription ($9/month)

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Examples

B2B SaaS Complete CAC Analysis

Full True CAC calculation for a B2B SaaS company with complete data including ad spend, tools, and team salary. Demonstrates shared cost allocation, industry benchmarking, and strategic recommendations when both channels show equal efficiency.

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DTC Fashion Multi-Channel Baseline

Demonstrates handling incomplete data for a DTC fashion brand with only ad spend provided. Shows baseline CAC calculation, identifies missing cost categories, and provides actionable recommendations while noting limitations of the analysis.

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Fintech Organic vs Paid Channel Comparison

Demonstrates customer-based allocation method for organic channels with no direct spend. Shows how content/SEO can deliver significantly lower CAC than paid search, with recommendations on scaling organic investment.

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