analytics-dictionary / term / tracking & measurement

Customer acquisition cost (CAC)

Customer acquisition cost is the average spend needed to win a new customer.

Written by Reflective Data experts · updated Oct 5, 2026

It is calculated by dividing sales and marketing costs by the number of new customers in a period. On its own it says little; compared with lifetime value it tells you whether acquisition is sustainable.

Joining ad spend, CRM and revenue data in a warehouse makes CAC reliable by channel.

Customer lifetime value (LTV)Data warehouse Return on ad spend (ROAS)

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Call to action (CTA)

A call to action is a prompt that tells visitors what to do next, such as…

conversion-rate.md

Conversion rate

Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors or sessions that complete a desired action.

hotjar.md

Hotjar

Hotjar is a behaviour analytics tool offering heatmaps, session recordings and surveys.

pendo.md

Pendo

Pendo is a product experience platform combining analytics with in-app guides and feedback.

custom-dimension.md

Custom dimension

A custom dimension is an extra attribute you register in your analytics tool so it can…

last-click-attribution.md

Last-click attribution

Last-click attribution gives 100 percent of the credit for a conversion to the final touchpoint before…

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