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Glossary · Metrics

What is CPA?

Also known as Cost per acquisition.

Definition

CPA (cost per acquisition) is ad spend divided by the number of conversions. Spending $2,000 to generate 50 conversions gives a CPA of $40. Your maximum sustainable CPA is your gross profit per order, so any CPA above that is unprofitable even if the campaign looks healthy on other metrics.

How it is calculated

CPA = Ad spend ÷ Conversions

What to know

CPA is a composite of two underlying numbers: cost per click and conversion rate. When CPA rises, one of those moved, and they need opposite fixes. Higher CPC is an auction or creative problem; lower conversion rate is a landing page, offer or checkout problem.

CPA is normally per-channel and per-event. CAC (customer acquisition cost) is the fully-loaded, business-wide equivalent and is usually the larger, more honest figure.

Related terms

CPCCPC (cost per click) is ad spend divided by clicks. It measures what you pay for attention, not for results. C...Conversion rateConversion rate (CVR) is conversions divided by clicks or sessions, expressed as a percentage. If 1,600 clicks...Break-even ROASBreak-even ROAS is the return on ad spend at which a campaign covers its costs exactly, calculated as 1 divide...

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