Why You Need to Lower Your Customer Acquisition Cost Right Now?

What is Customer Acquisition Cost?

Picture CAC as your compass, guiding you through the vast expanse of the online business world. In simple terms, CAC represents the total investment required to acquire a customer.

Whenever you get a new lead to land on your online store, you have used techniques and resources to attract their attention. Sometimes it is purely organic, and your CAC is low because it is only the cost of maintaining a website or spending time to post on social media.

Other times, this cost is high because you are using multiple email campaigns, purchasing ads on different platforms, or encouraging interest through affiliate programs that lower revenue potential.

No matter the avenue, understanding and calculating CAC grants you valuable insights into the effectiveness of your customer acquisition strategies and the overall health of your online store.

Why Do Online Stores Need to Worry About Customer Acquisition Cost?

In the highly competitive realm of ecommerce, CAC is your secret weapon for survival. High CAC means you’re spending more to acquire each customer, diminishing profits.

Low CAC means you are somehow navigating the various algorithms online and have optimized to such a level that you barely need to spend anything on marketing.

When you actively reduce your CAC, you optimize your resources, increase your customer base, and elevate your online business to new heights. In fact, CAC is so crucial that it often determines whether your online store sinks or swims in the sea of fierce competition.

How Do You Calculate the Customer Acquisition Cost?

Calculating CAC is akin to deciphering a cryptic code, but fear not. We’re here to guide you through the process.

The formula is simple:

Divide your total marketing and sales expenses by the number of customers acquired within a specific time. 

This reveals the average CAC per customer, providing valuable insights into the effectiveness of your marketing strategies. For example, if you spend $100 on ads, $50 on your monthly website needs, and another $50 on professional support, then you spend $200 a month for a single customer. If you have 200 customers, then it’s only 1 cent per customer.

Of course, that is a low-level calculation as most people spend way more per month, but it works as a guideline for how to move forward.

Are Customer Acquisition Cost and Lifetime Total Value of Customers the Same?

While CAC leads the way, there’s another star in the galaxy of customer-centric metrics: the total lifetime value of customers (LTV).

Think of LTV as the ultimate destination, representing the net value a customer brings to your online store over their entire relationship with you. LTV is the value of a customer over their lifespan. If they routinely purchase from your business, then they are highly valuable. If they only make a single purchase, they are great, but not as important.

While CAC focuses on the cost of acquiring customers, LTV quantifies the returns they generate. Balancing CAC and LTV is crucial for a healthy business model. A favourable CAC ratio justifies your acquisition costs by the long-term value customers bring to your online store. It means you are spending less for someone that is giving more. Kind of like stocks and real estate – buy low, sell high.

Top Tips for Reducing Customer Acquisition Cost

• Prioritize Quality Content:To captivate your target audience, create engaging content that tells a compelling story and sparks their interest. Optimize your content with relevant keywords and ensure it aligns with search engine algorithms to boost organic traffic and reduce reliance on costly advertising.
• Integrate Social Media Channels:Leverage the power of social media platforms to connect with your target audience, foster engagement, and drive traffic to your online store. By strategically utilizing social media channels, you can expand your reach, strengthen brand awareness, and generate leads at a lower cost.
• Increase Your Prices & Average Order Value (AOV):Don’t shy away from increasing prices or implementing strategic pricing strategies. By boosting prices and encouraging customers to add more items to their cart, you can increase your average order value, resulting in higher revenue per customer and improved profitability.
• Lower Cost of Goods Sold (COGS):Streamline your supply chain, negotiate better deals with suppliers, and explore alternative sourcing options to lower your cost of goods sold. This reduces expenses and enables you to offer competitive pricing while maintaining quality.
• Improve Your Customer Retention:Nurture relationships with your existing customers to minimize the need for constant customer acquisition. Provide exceptional customer support, personalized experiences, and loyalty programs to enhance customer satisfaction and foster long-term loyalty.
• Proactively Engage with Loyal Customers:Stay connected with your loyal customer base through personalized emails, exclusive offers, and rewards. By proactively engaging with them, you can encourage repeat purchases, generate positive reviews, and benefit from valuable word-of-mouth referrals.
• Use Ad Re-targeting:Harness the power of ad re-targeting to re-engage potential customers who have shown interest in your products or visited your website. By reminding them of your offerings through targeted ads, you can increase conversion rates and reduce CAC.
• Start an Affiliate Program:Expand your reach by starting an affiliate program, where partners promote your products or services in exchange for a commission. This taps into their existing networks, broadens your customer base, and minimizes your direct marketing costs.
• Encourage Referral Bonuses:Leverage the power of referrals by offering incentives to existing customers who refer new customers. Referral bonuses create a win-win situation, motivating your satisfied customers to spread the word while reducing your CAC.
• Open to International Markets: At OPMC, we offer a beneficial Alipay Cross Border Payment Gateway for WooCommerce pluginthat opens the Chinese market to your eCommerce storefront. That lowers the cost of acquiring these key customers and increases the potential revenue of your store. Download this plugin and open a new target market for your brand today!

Conclusion

Congratulations! You’ve embarked on a transformative journey to conquer the challenges of CAC and unlock the door to success in the vast world of online commerce. By prioritizing lowering the number of financial resources you spend on getting more eyeballs to your website, you generate higher profit margins that ensure the longevity of your online business.

Remember to use CAC as your compass. This will be the digital GPS for your eCommerce store to embrace its power and chart a course toward sustained growth, increased conversions, and flourishing digital sales. Get ready to set sail on the sea of success!