What is Blended CAC?
Nexa Consultancy | Startup & Finance Glossary
Blended Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the total sales and marketing spend divided by the total number of new customers acquired across all channels (both paid and organic). It provides an overall average cost to acquire a customer.
For Startups: While easy to calculate, Blended CAC can be a "vanity metric" if not used carefully. It can hide inefficiencies in paid marketing channels, as a strong influx of organic or word-of-mouth customers can artificially lower the blended average.
For Marketing: Savvy marketers and investors prefer to look at "Paid CAC," which only includes the customers acquired through paid channels, as this gives a true measure of the efficiency of marketing spend. Analyzing CAC by channel is even more insightful.
Calculation: Blended CAC = Total Sales & Marketing Spend / Total New Customers (from all channels)
Example: A company spends ₹1 Lakh on marketing and acquires 100 new customers (50 from paid ads, 50 from organic search). Its Blended CAC is ₹1,000.