CPA (cost per acquisition)
DefinitionPaid Media
CPA (cost per acquisition)
Spend divided by the number of conversions it produced - the price of an acquired action, attributed to the channel. The channel-level cousin of CAC: CAC reads the whole business, CPA reads one campaign through whatever attribution lens produced it.
Evidence from the library
35%Click-based attribution sends a third of spend to sales that would have happened anywayWarning$32 vs <$10TV and CTV CPMs run about $32 versus under $10 for typical programmatic, yet buyers treat all reach as equal.Stat£1 vs £40 CPMThere's no relationship between media price (CPM) and creator campaign outcomes - cheap buys can win, expensive buys can lose.WarningA pre-purchase 'how did you hear about us' survey is the cheapest brand attribution toolPrincipleBusy Work = 38% of campaignsAdvertising Planning Matrix - Growth Engine, Cult Hit, Paid Noise, Busy WorkPrinciple
Source
Marketing Definitions
standard digital advertising practice
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