Unit Economics of Ads
CAC, payback, margin.
Why Unit Economics Decide Scale
Scaling paid acquisition is not about spending more. It is about knowing that every extra dollar you spend returns more than a dollar in gross profit, fast enough that cash flow survives.
Unit economics is the math of a single customer: what they cost to acquire, what they generate, and how long the money takes to come back.
Cost Per Acquisition (CAC)
CAC is the total acquisition spend divided by the number of new customers it produced. Use fully-loaded spend: media, agency fees, and creative production, not just the ad platform invoice.
Blended CAC mixes all sources; paid CAC isolates the channel you are scaling. Always know which one you are quoting.
CAC = total acquisition spend / new customers
Example (paid CAC):
Media spend = $40,000
Agency + tools = $6,000
Creative = $4,000
New customers = 500
CAC = 50,000 / 500 = $100All lessons in this course
- Unit Economics of Ads
- Diminishing Returns
- Channel Diversification
- Scaling Playbook