Customer Acquisition Strategy Template

There is no universal benchmark because CAC depends on ACV. The ratio that matters is LTV:CAC. A 3:1 ratio is the minimum for a sustainable business. 5:1 is strong. Below 3:1, you are spending more to acquire customers than they will return. Above 8:1, you may be under-investing in growth. Use the [LTV/CAC Calculator](/tools/ltv-cac-calculator) to model your specific unit economics.

At early stage (pre-$1M ARR), focus on 1-2 channels and get them working before diversifying. At growth stage ($1-10M ARR), 3-4 channels is typical, with one or two driving 70%+ of volume. Spreading budget across too many channels means none of them reach the threshold to produce meaningful data. The [Product-Led Growth Handbook](/plg-guide) covers how PLG changes the channel mix.

Both. Blended CAC tells you the overall health of your acquisition engine. Per-channel CAC tells you where to invest more and where to cut. If you only track blended CAC, a high-performing channel can mask a wasteful one. If you only track per-channel CAC, you miss the interaction effects (e.g., brand awareness from paid ads improving organic conversion).

PLG CAC includes engineering and product costs allocated to the free tier, support costs for free users, and infrastructure costs. The "spend" is not ad dollars. It is the cost of building and maintaining the free experience. Divide total PLG costs by the number of free-to-paid conversions per month. The [activation rate](/glossary/activation-rate) glossary entry explains how to measure the critical free-to-active step.

Give paid channels 60-90 days and $5K+ spend before judging. Give organic channels (SEO, content, community) 6-12 months. Kill a channel when: (1) CAC is 2x+ your target after optimization, (2) the channel cannot scale beyond a low volume ceiling, or (3) the lead quality is consistently poor (low activation, high churn). Do not kill channels based on one bad month. ---