Marketing, sales and customers

Cost per acquisition (CPA)

  • Marketing, sales and customers

Definition

The average cost of getting one conversion, such as a sale, sign-up or lead, calculated as total spend divided by the number of conversions.

Also called

CPA, Cost per acquisition

Example

€1,000 spent for 40 sales gives a CPA of €25.

For your role

Choose your role to see what this term means in your work.

Why it matters

It shows whether paid marketing is affordable.

Where it is used

Paid marketing reports and campaign budgets.

How to calculate it

Ad spend ÷ number of conversions

Worked example

€1,000 spent for 40 sales gives a CPA of €25.