Strategies to Lower Cost Per Acquisition

We changed one button on a client’s website and watched acquisition costs drop by a third overnight. Same ads, same audience… just tracking what Meta ACTUALLY values instead of what everyone thinks it values. Here’s the exact framework: 1. Fix Your Funnel Mechanics Standard e-commerce flows create massive inefficiencies when they don't align with platform event schemas. Multi-page checkouts, delayed confirmation signals, and fragmented purchase paths all force algorithms to work harder to find your customers. 2. Implement Strategic Conversion Paths Single-page checkout flows increase "InitiateCheckout" events by 20%, giving Meta earlier signals that immediately improve auction performance. Email-capture modals treated as "Lead" events let you optimize for actions Meta can deliver at a fraction of "Purchase" event costs. Progressive form fields create additional data points that feed algorithms the optimization signals they crave. 3. Optimize for Predictive Events While everyone obsesses over "add-to-cart," events like "complete registration" often predict lifetime value more accurately and convert at substantially lower costs. The accounts we've restructured around these insights consistently see 30%+ CPA improvements within weeks. 4. Sequence Your Channels Strategically Start with Pinterest/YouTube for cold reach. Transition to Meta Lead/Form campaigns, optimizing toward micro-conversions. Finally, move to Meta Conversion campaigns using fresh "AddToCart" seed audiences. This sequence leverages each platform's attribution window to maximize incremental lift while preventing platform competition for conversion credit. The brands beating CAC benchmarks in competitive markets have simply restructured their funnel mechanics to align with how algorithms really value conversions. This approach requires zero additional spend; just a strategic reconfiguration of your customer journey.

I’ve helped 5 eCom brands exit for ~$500m. The acquirer always wanted lower CPAs: So we pull 8 levers: 1. Creative → Target ~1 new concept per $10k in monthly spend. → At $500k/mo, that's 50 concepts. → 70% video (top of funnel, builds awareness) → 30% static (bottom of funnel, closes sales) That's 35 video concepts, 15 static concepts. Then 2-3 hook variations per video, and 5-8 variations per static. That's roughly 70 videos and 90 statics. Cut 70%+ of creatives before they hit two weeks. Your top 1-2% of ads should drive ~50% of spend. In most accounts, 70-80% of creative continues performing month-over-month. That means: → To maintain: replace 20-30% monthly → To grow 20%: replace churn + add 20% more volume 2. Media buying There are three actions that cut CPA without new ads: → Pause or spend-cap everything above target CPA → Retest old winners with new copy, headlines, landing pages → Scale the top 1-2% to take ~50% of total spend 8-figure brands can cut CPAs by 50% with media buying alone. Keep testing budget under 20% of total ad spend. Limit budget changes to 10-15% max, but make changes twice as often. 3. Website optimization The benchmarks: → CVR: 3%+ (top 10% hit 4.7%+) → Add-to-cart: 7-10% → Checkout completion: 60%+ Sometimes a landing page with 10% higher CPA leads to faster repurchases and higher LTV. 4. Subscription optimization The targets: → Monthly subscription churn: under 7% → 12-month retention: 40%+ → Repeat purchase rate: 30%+ The lever is segmentation: → Subscription vs one-time buyers → 4 week vs 8 week vs 12 week frequencies → Product categories → Acquisition channels The gap between 2x and 4x purchase frequency is a 2x LTV multiplier. 5. CRO Target email opt-in: 2-5%. Run distinct landing pages for each avatar. Example avatars for a supplement brand: → General nutrition → Gut health → Weight loss 6. Tracking optimization Click-based attribution overvalues lower-funnel performance by up to 250%. Top-of-funnel creative can drive 13X more incremental acquisitions than bottom-of-funnel. Click attribution will tell you the opposite. Post-purchase surveys catch what click attribution misses. Track individual nCAC on every ad you run. 7. Ad copy and headlines Ad copy can boost performance by 30%. Give creators selling points, not exact scripts. Target: → 40%+ hook rate → 2%+ CTR → 2-3 hook variations per video concept minimum 8. Data reporting and analysis Know two numbers: Maximum spend (company stays profitable): → Gross margin - OpEx = maximum marketing spend % → Example: 50% margin - 10% OpEx = 40% max Target spend (customer stays profitable): → Project 3-month customer profitability = your target CPA → Example: $55 AOV, $30 first purchase profit, $39 at month 3 = $39 target CPA End of the day, acquirers want: → Profitable customer acquisition → Reliable new customer growth for 3+ years → LTV and margins optimized

50% of Meta Advertisers are Using the WRONG Bidding Strategy And it's burning through millions in wasted spend. Most brands overthink bidding when there are only 2 strategies that actually matter: → Predictable Volume Strategy (Lowest Cost) → Predictable Efficiency Strategy (CPA/ROAS Goals) (Bid Cap is part of the predictable efficiency strategy, but it deserves its own breakdown) The Volume Play: Lowest Cost Your data collection machine. Deploy this when you're working with zero pixel data, launching products that differ greatly from your existing catalog. The logic: Meta needs impressions to learn. Lowest Cost delivers maximum impressions fastest. Getting you data the fastest. Great for new brands, fresh ad accounts, or any scenario where data collection trumps immediate efficiency. The Efficiency Play: CPA vs ROAS Breakdown Here's where 90% of advertisers mess up the decision. → CPA Goal: Works for consistent Average Order Values and limited SKUs. Terrible for varied product costs. → ROAS Goal: Infinitely more flexible. Adapts to actual customer value automatically. The ratio adjusts based on order value, making it the intelligent choice for most e-commerce operations. Strategic Application Framework Testing campaigns: Lowest Cost or loose targets (essentially Lowest Cost but trimming extreme outliers) Scaling campaigns: Tight ROAS/CPA Goals on proven winners Note: During sale periods using controls can maximize scale at a given efficiency making the most of the demand Here's what Meta doesn't advertise: Restrictive efficiency targets make the algorithm hit your warmest most ready-to-buy prospects first. You'll see a surge of efficient conversions, then a performance cliff as you burn through the segment. The counter-strategy: Step your targets down gradually to reach each audience cohort at their optimal efficiency level. You can step up or down to squeeze max value from each segment without destroying long-term performance. Restrictive targets sacrifice funnel health for short-term efficiency gains. Unless you need immediate cash flow and can sacrifice future audience development, don't chase unsustainable efficiency numbers. Meta always prioritizes fast conversion value. Don't let that optimization destroy your long-term acquisition strategy. Different brands succeed with different approaches at different stages. Most accounts today run combinations, especially the testing/scaling split. The Starting Point for Most Brands: Test with Lowest Cost, scale with ROAS Goal. If it's not delivering, adjust based on your unique data and needs. It all depends on your specific economics and market dynamics. The Decision Framework: → Do you need predictable volume or predictable efficiency right now? → Do you have sufficient pixel data? → Are your product costs varied? → Are you testing new creative or scaling? These first principles are universal, but your application will be unique to your operation.

We slashed $70 CAC to $28 without using a single discount. When an e-commerce brand came to me, their customer acquisition cost was sitting at $70. They thought they had tried everything: → Discounts → Free shipping → “Limited time” offers → Influencer shoutouts But what they didn’t have? A clear ads strategy built on data, not hope. Here’s what we did differently: 1. Rebuilt their audience structure We split cold traffic, warm traffic, and returning customers into isolated ad sets with different creative and messaging for each. Most brands lump them together and wonder why ROAS tanks. 2. Refreshed creative with intentional storytelling Instead of polished product photos, we launched ad sets with raw UGC. Real customers showing real use cases. Result: scroll-stopping attention at half the CPC. 3. Streamlined the landing experience The original landing page had 5 calls-to-action. We simplified it to 1. Added social proof near the buy button. Shortened the load time. The conversion rate jumped by 2.4x. 4. Paused 3 of their “best performing” campaigns Why? Because they were top-of-funnel campaigns serving to people already on their email list. Attribution was misleading. We reinvested that budget into a retargeting sequence that actually moved people through the funnel. The result? ✔️ CAC dropped from $70 to $28 in just 6 weeks with no price cuts, no new offers, and no magic tricks. ↳ Want help cutting your CAC without discounts? ↳ Drop “ADS” in the comments and I’ll tell you the next step.

Just watched another entrepreneur blow through his marketing budget. $100K conference booth. $250k ad spend. Cold email campaigns. Zero clue which (if any) actually work. How most entrepreneurs approach real estate sales: • Sponsor a $25k conference booth • Pay channel partners $15K referral fees • Launch cold email campaigns Wonder why they don’t know what’s working. The numbers they're missing: • Cost per acquisition by channel • Value of each funnel stage • Which touchpoints actually drive revenue 100% of them are surprised when I show them the funnel math. The systematic approach: Take a $200/month PropTech tool: 2.5 year average customer life = $5,000 LTV Smart entrepreneurs work backwards from LTV to value each interaction: • 1.5% website visitor to lead conversion • 20% lead to demo conversion • 15% demo to close conversion Suddenly every touchpoint has clear value: • Each website visitor = $15 • Each lead = $1,000 • Each demo = $750 Why this changes everything: That $500 cost-per-lead suddenly makes perfect sense. That $1,500 broker referral fee? Easy decision. You stop throwing money at channels that don't convert. The buyer complexity problem: But here's where most entrepreneurs still fail. Real estate has multiple decision makers. Your messaging needs to match the role: Asset Manager: Cares about operational efficiency Pitch: "Reduces operating costs by 15%, increasing NOI" Head of Acquisitions: Focused on deal flow and speed Pitch: "Analyze 3x more deals in half the time" Facilities Manager: Worried about day-to-day operations Pitch: "Eliminates manual processes, reduces staff workload" Development Director: Thinking about project timelines Pitch: "Accelerates project delivery, reduces delays" What separates winners from losers: Winners know: • Exactly what each funnel stage costs and converts • Who the real decision maker is (vs who takes the meeting) • Which stakeholders hold veto power • How to tailor messaging to each role's priorities Losers treat every prospect the same and wonder why deals stall. The bottom line: Start thinking systematically about funnel economics and buyer roles. Track every interaction. Know your numbers. Match your message to your audience. Details for our next workshop in the comments.

If your Facebook ads are too expensive… It’s probably not your budget. It’s not your niche. It’s not even your product. It’s your structure. Here’s how we took a client from $115 cost per purchase down to $55 while scaling spend above $2K/day: 1. Kill campaign clutter. The client had 25+ campaigns running. Lookalikes. Interests. Bid caps. Cost caps. Retargeting. It was chaos and none of it was working. We replaced all of it with one campaign. → One product → One country → One broad ad set → One clear objective Simplicity scaled. Complexity killed performance. 2. Use existing proven creatives. We launched 6 ads using existing post IDs from past top spenders. No new angles. No guessing. Just riding proven momentum already in the account. No one talks about this but it works extremely well when first taking over a messy ad account. 3. Rebuild your testing infrastructure. We rebuilt the creative system from scratch: • Defined 6–12 ad concepts • Each concept = 1 ad set • Each ad set = 3 variations (split by 1 visual element only) Video example: same script, same hook, different first 3 seconds. Image example: same copy, different background. We ran 3–4 concepts per week to maintain velocity. 4. Creative strategy starts with research. Most people write angles based on vibes. We write angles based on data: → Reddit threads → TikTok comments → Competitor reviews → Customer feedback → Site copy + heatmaps → Even YouTube comment sections We build angles around what people actually say, not what we think sounds good. 5. Once you win, scale with control. We found a $55 CPP winner. Then scaled 20% a day. All with structured budget increases with proven creatives. Now we’re pushing toward $1M/month while staying below the $70 CAC target the client hired us to hit. The biggest mistake most brands make? They throw more spend at broken foundations. We simplified the structure, fixed the strategy, and let the creative carry the weight. If your CAC is too high, don’t scale harder. Scale smarter. Follow me Nick Theriot for more content like this.

Another week managing campaigns, and here is what the numbers looked like. Across the portfolio, we managed $100K+ in weekly spend and generated strong returns across every channel. The biggest win came from a Black Friday strategy that almost nobody runs, even though the economics are wild when you see it in motion. Two weeks before Black Friday, we shift 30 to 40 percent of daily Meta ad spend into pure lead generation: no purchase objective, no sale attempt. The only goal is pushing high-intent prospects into Klaviyo with an early access promise for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This flips the entire logic of Q4. While other brands spend $40 to $50 to acquire a customer in the most competitive window of the year, we acquire email leads for $1 to $1.50, and those leads convert inside Klaviyo instead of inside Meta. CBD for Life is the best proof from this week. - Pulling leads in at $0.83/lead - Added more than 1,500 new people to the list already - 22% have converted from the very first email before their early access offer even goes live When the full Black Friday flow hits, the projected conversion rate is 47%. Their normal acquisition cost is around $50. With this system, the effective CPA drops to roughly $11. If you turn Meta into the traffic source, you turn Klaviyo into the acquisition engine. You collect cheaper leads and you convert them at scale, and you walk into Black Friday with a list that is already converting, instead of an ad account that bleeds for every purchase.

You don’t need more marketing spend to drive your customer base — you need a smarter approach to CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost). If you focus on these three game-changing strategies, you can scale your startup without bleeding cash on acquisition. Here’s how. 1️⃣ Increase Lifetime Value (LTV) When customers stay longer and spend more, your customer acquisition costs decrease over time, making every dollar spent more effective. → Use tailored onboarding and continuous education to ensure customers extract the full value from your product. The longer they stay, the more your upfront costs become justified. 2️⃣ Optimize Sales and Marketing Spend Instead of spreading resources thin across multiple channels, focus on data-driven attribution. Analyze which channels drive the highest return, and double down on them while eliminating underperforming efforts. → Conduct quarterly performance audits of your paid ads, email campaigns, and content efforts. Redirect budgets to top performers and optimize spend on high-impact channels. 3️⃣ Increase Average Contract Value (ACV) Bundling higher-tier products or services can increase your ACV while making each acquisition more cost-effective. Ensure your offerings are closely aligned with what your best customers need most, and demonstrate the additional value. → Upsell with data-backed insights. Track usage data to see which features customers engage with most, then offer personalized upgrades that they’ll find impossible to resist. By strategically increasing LTV, refining your marketing efforts, and raising ACV, you’ll accelerate your path to scalable growth. Smart founders know that sustainable success comes from making every interaction count. I help startups identify and accelerate their unique advantages to gain a competitive edge. Explore how we can work together: https://t2m.io/tmVRzGGc #startups #CAC #scaling #entrepreneurship #marketing #GTMstrategy

𝗗𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗻: 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 💰 Are sky-high customer acquisition costs draining your budget? I feel your pain. It's like watching your hard-earned money disappear into thin air. Unchecked, these costs can throttle the growth of your online business, devour your resources, and, in severe cases, threaten its very survival. Here’s the insider scoop on slashing those costs without cutting corners: ◾ Branch Out with Your Marketing Channels: Avoid dependency on one channel. Mix it up to see what gives you the best bang for your buck. ◾ Double Down on Content Marketing & SEO: Build a foundation that continues to pay dividends long after the initial effort. ◾ Capitalize on Referral Programs: Your happiest customers are your best marketers. Give them a reason to rave about you. ◾ Refine Your Targeting: Use analytics to laser-focus your marketing dollars on prospects most likely to convert. These aren't just tips—they're my battle-tested strategies for fueling sustainable growth while keeping costs in check. Implement these, and you'll start seeing a more streamlined budget and healthier margins. Ever tackled high acquisition costs head-on with creative strategies? What’s worked for you? Share your victories below. 👇 #productmanagement #innovation #startups #entrepreneurship #research #success

Brands are running 60% off welcome offers and wondering why their subscriber churn is brutal. You didn't acquire a customer. You acquired someone who wanted 60% off. The full price rebill isn't a billing event to them, it's a broken promise. We test offer depth across almost every program we run and the pattern is consistent. Shallower acquisition offers, paired with strong prospect & onboarding flows, produce better 90 day and 180 day LTV than aggressive discounts almost every time. The CVR is lower but the customer is better. The brands still chasing CVR% as the primary acquisition metric are optimizing for the wrong number. You can have a 12% conversion rate and a retention program bleeding out underneath it.