Getting your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) wrong can be the difference between scaling profitably and burning through your budget. For outbound marketing campaigns, calculating true CAC isn’t as straightforward as dividing total spend by new customers. Many businesses underestimate their real costs, leading to poor decision-making and unsustainable growth strategies.
According to HubSpot’s 2023 State of Marketing report, 61% of marketers say measuring ROI is their biggest challenge. When it comes to outbound lead generation, understanding your true CAC becomes even more critical, as these campaigns often involve multiple touchpoints and longer sales cycles.
Understanding CAC Beyond the Basics
CAC represents the total expense of acquiring a new customer. The basic formula—total acquisition costs ÷ number of customers—oversimplifies the process and misses key elements.
For outbound campaigns, true CAC must include direct costs, indirect expenses, and operational overheads. Profitwell research shows businesses underestimate CAC by 20–40% when they exclude these factors.
Direct Costs: The Obvious Expenses
Direct costs are the foundation of CAC.
- Technology and Tools: outbound tech stacks, email automation, LinkedIn outreach, CRM, and data providers.
- Advertising Spend: paid LinkedIn ads, sponsored content, account-based marketing campaigns.
- Data and List Costs: purchased contact lists, intent data, advanced prospecting tools.
Indirect Costs: The Hidden Expenses
Indirect costs often represent the largest portion of CAC.
- Personnel Costs: SDR salaries, marketing managers’ time, sales managers’ coaching, finance support. Salesforce reports B2B sales teams spend only 28% of their time selling.
- Training and Onboarding: ramp time averages 3.2 months (The Bridge Group), with costs continuing during low productivity.
- Management and Support: coaching, content creation, IT maintenance, and process support.
The Complete CAC Formula for Outbound
True CAC = (Direct Costs + Indirect Costs + Overhead Allocation) ÷ Customers Acquired
- Direct Costs: tech subscriptions, data, advertising
- Indirect Costs: salaries, training, management time, content creation
- Overhead: office space, equipment, general admin
Calculating CAC Across Different Outbound Channels
Different channels require separate calculations for clarity.
- Email Outreach CAC: email platforms, data, SDR time, content, deliverability tools, domain setup.
- LinkedIn Outreach CAC: Sales Navigator, automation tools, social selling content, personalised outreach time.
- Cold Calling CAC: phone systems, dialer tech, call prep, and execution time.
- Multi-Channel CAC: allocate costs by time spent or leads generated to compare ROI across channels.
Time-Based Considerations
Outbound sales cycles are long—average B2B cycle is 4–6 months (Salesforce).
- Attribution Windows: decide whether to attribute costs at first touch, conversion, or across engagement.
- Seasonal Adjustments: account for seasonal spikes and slow periods to avoid skewed data.
Common CAC Calculation Mistakes
Many companies miscalculate CAC by:
- Ignoring costs from failed campaigns or experiments
- Overlooking overlapping tools in the tech stack
- Forgetting content creation costs (emails, scripts, LinkedIn messages)
Optimising Your Outbound CAC
True CAC calculation enables better optimisation.
- Track response rates, conversion rates, and deal values
- Audit tools regularly to cut redundancies and negotiate better pricing
- Improve efficiency through training and better attribution tracking
Making CAC Actionable
Accurate CAC isn’t just about numbers—it’s about decision-making.
- Compare CAC against customer lifetime value (LTV); aim for at least a 3:1 LTV:CAC ratio
- Use insights to allocate budgets across channels and refine outbound strategies
- Analyse CAC regularly to identify trends early and maintain profitability at scale
By calculating CAC comprehensively, you’ll gain the insights needed to build a sustainable, profitable outbound engine that fuels consistent growth.
