Remember when acquiring customers was simpler? You’d run some Facebook ads, get decent conversions, and scale up. Those days are gone.

Ad costs have skyrocketed – what used to cost $30 to acquire a customer now burns through $100 or more. Your margins are shrinking while Meta and Google keep getting richer.

Those who run digital ads would know it. The math doesn’t add up anymore. While everyone’s fighting over expensive ad spots, smart founders are shifting gears & paradigms. They’re building acquisition channels they actually own and control.

Here’s the thing – it’s not about completely ditching ads. It’s about finding that sweet spot where your marketing spend actually makes sense for your unit economics.

If you want to reduce the cost of customer acquisition organically, then this post is for you.

Key Takeaways:

• You can calculate the average customer acquisition cost by dividing all expenses by a number of new customers acquired in a given time.
• If your CAC is 3x or 4x less than the lifetime value of your customer, it’s considered a good CAC.
• Get good at keyword research to reduce the average CAC organically. Paid ads eat up your margin.

Summarizing the average cost of customer acquisition

While early-stage companies often spend 3-4x more than their Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) on customer acquisition, mature SaaS companies aim to spend only $1.18 to $1.50 for every dollar of new ARR. This massive gap shows just how brutal the early days of customer acquisition can be.

Even more eye-opening is the range of CAC across different SaaS segments – from a modest $274 for eCommerce SaaS tools to a whopping $1,450 for Fintech SaaS products. That’s more than a 5x difference depending on your market.

Let me break down the most recent CAC numbers across different SaaS industries in 2024:

General SaaS Average Customer Acquisition Cost

The overall average CAC in the SaaS industry is $702. However, this varies significantly by business size and sector.

Industry-Specific CAC

#1 High-Cost Sectors

According to First Page Sage, these are the average cost of acquisition for high-cost industries:

• Fintech: $1,450 for SMBs, climbing to $14,772 for enterprise customers
• Medtech: $921 for SMBs, reaching $11,021 for enterprise-level
• Insurance: $1,280 for SMBs, escalating to $11,228 for enterprise clients

#2 Mid-Range Sectors

For Mid-range industries, First Page Sage has found the following as average CAC:

• Business Services: $585 for SMBs, increasing to $7,247 for enterprise
• Security: $805 for SMBs, rising to $10,221 for enterprise customers
• Telecommunications: $694 for SMBs, reaching $10,980 for enterprise-level

#3 Lower-Cost Sectors

According to First Page Sage, the low-cost industries, usually B2C, have average CAC as follows:

• eCommerce SaaS: $274 for SMBs, only reaching $2,190 for enterprise
• Staffing & HR: $410 for SMBs, increasing to $6,754 for enterprise
• Legaltech: $299 for SMBs, growing to $6,441 for enterprise

Channel-Specific Costs

B2B SaaS companies using organic channels typically see lower CACs ($205) than paid channels ($341). This combined average of $239 makes B2B SaaS one of the most cost-effective industries for customer acquisition.

What is Customer Acquisition cost (CAC)?

Think of CAC like the cover charge at a nightclub. If you’re paying $100 to get in, you better make sure you’re going to spend enough time (and money) inside to make that entrance fee worth it.

In SaaS terms, If you’re spending $500 to get one customer through Google Ads, that customer needs to stick around long enough and pay you enough to make that $500 worthwhile. Simple math, really.

Say you’re running a social media scheduling tool. Right now, you might be:

• Spending $5,000 on Google Ads
• Getting 1,000 visitors
• Converting 10 customers
  That’s $500 to acquire one customer who pays you $50/month.

But here’s where it gets interesting. When you shift focus to ranking for terms like “best time to post on LinkedIn” through solid keyword research, the numbers change dramatically:

• $2,000 on content creation (one-time cost)
• Getting 3,000 monthly visitors consistently (evergreen traffic)
• Converting 15 customers every month

That’s about $133.33 per customer and the best part? Those articles keep bringing in customers month after month. Repurposing it on social media and email makes the CAC go down even more.

The traffic from ads stops the moment you stop paying. But that blog post about LinkedIn posting times? It’s still bringing in customers two years later, effectively dropping your CAC close to zero over time.

This is why smart keyword research isn’t just about rankings – it’s about fundamentally changing your cost structure of acquiring customers.

How to calculate customer acquisition cost?

Add up everything you spent on marketing and sales in a month – your ad spend, content writer’s salary, sales team costs, tools like Semrush, and even that coffee budget for sales meetings. Let’s say that’s $10,000.

Now count how many new customers you got that month, say 20. Simple division: $10,000 ÷ 20 = $500 per customer. That’s your CAC.

If you’re doing content marketing for your SaaS, spread those costs over 6-12 months since that content keeps working for you long-term.

What is a good customer acquisition cost?

It depends on what your customers pay you. The golden rule is the 3:1 ratio – your customer should make you 3 times what you spent to get them. Let’s say you run a SaaS tool charging $100 monthly, and customers typically stay for 18 months.

That’s $1,800 lifetime value. Following the 3:1 rule, you shouldn’t spend more than $600 to acquire each customer. But here’s the real deal – if you’re burning through $500 on ads per customer, but could get the same customer for $200 through organic search, that’s $300 you’re leaving on the table.

With this calculation, you should be blown away by the CAC organic traffic creates when compared to paid ads.

The Business Impact of High CAC

#1 The current reality of rising acquisition costs across industries

Customer acquisition costs have exploded across the board – we’re seeing a 60-75% surge from 2014 to 2019, with another 50% jump in the last five years. Take SaaS, for example – what used to cost $200 to acquire a customer now needs $702 on average.

Fintech companies are getting hit the hardest, spending up to $1,450 per customer. This isn’t just a temporary blip – it’s a fundamental shift in how expensive it’s becoming to attract new customers as more companies fight for the same audience’s attention.

#2 Why traditional paid advertising is becoming unsustainable for startups

The math just doesn’t work anymore for early-stage companies. While mature SaaS companies aim to spend $1.18 to $1.50 for every dollar of new revenue, startups are burning through 3-4x their ARR just on customer acquisition.

Think about it – if you’re spending $500 to acquire a customer who pays you $50 monthly, you’ll need 10 months just to break even on acquisition costs alone.

Add in the constantly changing algorithms of Facebook and Google, plus rising bid costs as more competitors enter the space, and you’ve got a recipe for unsustainable growth.

#3 The hidden costs beyond advertising spend that inflate CAC

People often forget that CAC isn’t just about ad spend. You’re also paying for marketing team salaries, sales commissions, CRM software, marketing automation tools, content production, design work, and even those sales team coffee meetings.

These operational costs can silently balloon your true acquisition costs. For instance, if you’re spending $75,000 on total marketing and sales expenses to acquire 250 customers, your real CAC is $300 per customer – not just the $50 you might be spending on ads. 

These hidden costs often make the difference between profitable and unsustainable growth.

The SEO Advantage in Customer Acquisition

#1 Understanding the Cost Dynamics

When you’re burning through cash on ads, every customer acquisition feels like a race against time. But here’s what most founders miss – while paid channels demand constant feeding, SEO builds equity in your marketing. Think of it like renting vs buying a house. With ads, you’re paying rent that increases every year.

With SEO, you’re building an asset that appreciates over time. Let’s break down how this actually works in practice and why proper keyword research is the foundation of sustainable customer acquisition.

#1.1 Comparison of paid vs. organic acquisition channels

Here’s what nobody tells you about paid channels – they’re addictive. You start with a $50 daily budget, see some results, and before you know it, you’re spending $500 daily just to maintain the same traffic. You’ll find startups that burn $30,000 on ads every month without building any lasting value.

Now, contrast this with organic search. Let’s say you invest $2,000 in creating comprehensive content around your main product features. In month one, it might bring in 100 visitors. By month three, that same content is pulling 500 visitors.

Six months in? You’re looking at 1,500 monthly visitors without spending an extra dime. The key is targeting the right keywords from day one – something tools like Semrush excel at by showing you exactly what your successful competitors are ranking for.

#1.2 Long-term ROI benefits of SEO-driven acquisition

The HelloSign case study perfectly supports this narrative about SEO’s compounding effects on reducing CAC. HelloSign achieved an impressive 1,308% organic traffic growth over 17 months through a content-led SEO strategy.

Another supporting example comes from Smartlook, which scaled to over 600 monthly conversions through SEO efforts. They achieved the top 3 rankings for 20 high-intent keywords and secured the #1 position for 11 keywords.

This resulted in consistent conversion growth over 16 months, demonstrating the compounding nature of SEO investments.

An even more dramatic example comes from an early-stage SaaS startup, Workfellow, which increased organic traffic by 22x in 12 months.

They grew their marketing qualified leads (MQLs) by 5x and closed multiple sales deals directly attributed to organic search in the latter part of the year.

This shows how SEO can transform from a slow starter into a primary customer acquisition channel that becomes more cost-effective over time.

#1.3 How proper keyword research creates compounding returns

Here’s where smart keyword research becomes your secret weapon. Using Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool, we discovered that our client’s potential customers weren’t just searching for product features – they were looking for solutions to specific problems.

Instead of targeting a “social media scheduling tool” (high competition, expensive), we found gems like “how to schedule Instagram posts for free” (lower competition, high intent).

Building content clusters around these keywords, creating comprehensive guides that answered related questions. Each article supported the others, building topical authority.

The magic happened when these articles started ranking – they didn’t just bring in traffic for their main keywords but for hundreds of related terms we never specifically targeted.

One article targeting a 2,000 monthly search volume keyword brought in 15,000 monthly visitors from various related searches. That’s the compound effect of proper keyword research – your content works harder than your ad budget ever could.

The Keyword Research Framework

#1 Market Intelligence Phase

Most founders dive into content creation without a solid keyword strategy. They end up targeting terms that either don’t convert or are impossibly competitive. I’ve seen companies waste months creating content that brings traffic but no customers.

The key is understanding where your potential customers are in their journey and what they’re actually searching for.

Let’s break down how to use Semrush to find these golden opportunities that actually reduce your customer acquisition costs.

#1.1 Using Keyword Magic Tool to identify high-intent, low-competition terms

Here’s a practical approach I’ve used to find converting keywords. Open Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool and start with your product’s main feature.

Let’s say you’re selling project management software. Instead of targeting “project management software” (super competitive), look for terms like “how to track project deadlines” or “team collaboration tools for remote teams.”

Filter for keywords with:

• Search volume: 100-1,000 monthly searches
• Keyword difficulty: Under 40
• High commercial intent (look for terms with “software,” “tool,” “platform,” etc.)

For example, “collaboration tools for remote teams” might only have 390 monthly searches, but the commercial intent is crystal clear – these people are looking for a solution like yours.

The beauty is that while your competitors fight over the big terms, these specific, intent-driven keywords often convert at 2-3x higher rates.

#1.2 Analyzing Competitor Keyword Gaps

Here’s where you find the hidden gems your competitors are ranking for. In Semrush, pull up your top 3 competitors’ domains in the Keyword Gap tool. Look for keywords where multiple competitors rank, but you don’t – these are validated opportunities.

Pay special attention to keywords where competitors are ranking with thin content or outdated information.

I recently found a competitor ranking for “mind mapping tools” with a 1500-word article from 2019. I created a comprehensive, updated guide with real use cases, and within weeks, I started getting impressions for more relevant keywords & clicks from the right users.

#1.3 Finding keywords that match different stages of the buyer journey

This is about building a conversion funnel through search intent. Break down your keyword research into three categories:

#1 Awareness Stage [Totally unaware audience]:

• “project management best practices”
• “how to improve team productivity”
• These bring in traffic cheaply and build authority

#2 Consideration Stage [Slightly aware audience]:

• “project management software comparison”
• “alternatives to [competitor]”
• These terms show buying intent

#3 Decision Stage [Well aware audience]:

• “project management software pricing”
• “[competitor] vs [your brand]”

These have the highest conversion potential

The trick is to create content clusters around each stage. For instance, if someone searches “how to improve team productivity,” they might not be ready to buy, but by addressing their pain points, you’re building trust at a much lower cost than direct advertising.

#2 Cost Analysis Phase

Before you dive into content creation, you need to know if your SEO investment will actually reduce your CAC. This isn’t about throwing money at content and hoping it works. I’ve seen too many founders burn cash on content that never delivers ROI.

Let’s break down exactly how to calculate the potential return on your SEO investment, compare it with your current ad spend, and set realistic expectations for when you’ll see results.

#2.1 Calculating potential organic traffic value

Let’s get practical about measuring potential returns. Open Semrush’s Keyword Overview tool and look at your target keywords.

For example, if you’re targeting “project management automation,” you’ll see the CPC is $13.87. That means competitors (or you) are paying $13.87 per click for this keyword. Unsure of conversion after someone clicks on the link in search ads.

Now, multiply that CPC by the monthly search volume and average CTR for your target position. If a keyword gets 1,000 searches monthly, and you’re aiming for position 3 (average 15% CTR), that’s potentially:
1,000 x 15% = 150 clicks monthly
150 x $13.87 = $2,080.5 monthly value

This is what you’d pay for the same traffic through ads for as long as you want that traffic.

By ranking organically, you’re essentially saving this amount monthly. You can use this method to see how a $5,000 content investment could save you $25,000+ in annual ad spend.

#2.2 Estimating content investment vs paid advertising costs

Here’s how to break down the real costs. Let’s say you’re currently spending $10,000 monthly on ads with a CAC of $500. To create SEO content that could replace this traffic, you might need:

• Content creation: $3,000 monthly (3-4 high-quality articles)
• SEO tools (Semrush): $208.33 monthly
• Optional link building: $1,000 monthly

Total: $4,208 monthly. While ads stop working the moment you stop paying, this content investment keeps working for you.

I’ve seen articles from 2 years ago still bringing in qualified leads at essentially zero marginal cost. The key is comparing lifetime value – ads are a recurring cost, while content is an appreciating asset.

Think of organic traffic as a loyal customer sending quality referrals for free. Imagine the Lifetime value of such an organic marketing channel. Talk about sustainability😎.

#2.3 Setting a realistic timeline for ROI

Let’s be brutally honest about timelines. Here’s what I typically see with SaaS companies:

Months 1-3:

• Content gets indexed
• Initial rankings in positions 15-30
• Minimal traffic, focus on building a content base

Months 4-6:

• Rankings improve to positions 5-15
• Traffic starts picking up
• First organic conversions

Months 7-12:

• Top 3 rankings for target keywords
• Consistent traffic growth
• CAC starts dropping significantly

The key is having enough runway. If you need customers next week, stick with ads. But if you can invest 6-12 months in SEO, you’ll build a sustainable acquisition channel that typically reduces CAC by 40-60% compared to paid channels.

Within this timeline, I’ve seen companies go from spending $500 per customer through ads to less than $200 through organic search.

After a certain period of time, organic traffic becomes so sustainable that the quality of leads from that traffic comes almost free of charge.

Strategic Implementation to get more out of invested CAC

While building long-term SEO takes time, you don’t have to wait months for results. I’ve helped SaaS companies find quick wins that start reducing their CAC within weeks.

The trick is knowing where to look and what to optimize first. Let’s dive into three strategies that can show results faster than traditional SEO approaches while building toward that sustainable, lower CAC future.

#1 Quick Wins

#1.1 Identifying low-hanging fruit keywords

Here’s a quick-win strategy I used for a SaaS client last month. Open Semrush and look at your current rankings for positions 4-20.

These are your goldmine opportunities. Why? Because you’re already ranking – you just need a push to get more traffic.

For example, to rank for “email automation workflow examples”, you can:

• Add real customer examples
• Include screenshots of their tool in action
• Add a clear call to action offering a template

Within weeks, the page can move higher in rank, increase its traffic, and start converting at a higher CTR. The best part? All this takes one day of work and zero additional ad spending.

Look for keywords where you’re ranking on page one or early page two – these are your fastest path to reducing CAC.

#1.2 Optimizing existing content for better conversions

Stop creating new content for a moment. Look at your Google Search Console for pages that are getting traffic but not converting.

In 2023, I helped a client turn a high-traffic, zero-conversion blog into their best-performing traffic source.

Here’s exactly what we did:

1. Added key takeaways section to immediately serve what readers are looking for
2. Inserted relevant product screenshots where users were already engaged
3. Updated posts around keyword impressions (not getting clicks)
4. Created a cluster of internal links to leverage existing traffic

#1.3 Creating content clusters around commercial intent keywords

Here’s how to build quick-converting content clusters. Start with your money keyword – let’s say “email marketing automation.” Instead of creating one massive guide, build supporting content around specific pain points:

• “Email automation workflow examples”
• “Best time to send automated emails”
• “Email automation ROI calculator”

Link these pieces together, with each addressing a specific objection or question in the buying process. We used this exact approach to help a client capture different stages of buyer intent.

Since the readers are oscillating between relevant pages, they are very close to a sale (make sure all your posts are optimized for sales, nothing else), chances of converting visitors increases by multiple folds.

#2 Long-term Growth

Quick wins are great, but sustainable CAC reduction comes from building lasting SEO authority. I’ve seen too many founders chase short-term rankings only to lose them months later. The real magic happens when you build a content ecosystem that continuously attracts and converts customers.

Let’s explore how to create this sustainable growth engine that keeps reducing your CAC year after year.

#2.1 Building topical authority in your niche

Forget about random blog posts. Here’s how to build real authority that Google (and customers) respect. Pick three core topics/pillars closely related to your product. These categories/pillars should be relevant to the target audience’s daily lives.

For a project management tool, that might be:

• Project Planning
• Team Collaboration
• Workflow Automation

Now, create comprehensive content hubs around each. We did this for a client and saw their domain authority jump from 28 to 42 in eight months. More importantly, their organic conversion rate doubled because visitors saw them as genuine experts.

Create pillar content for each topic, then build supporting articles that link back to it. For example, under “Workflow Automation,”:

• Main guide is “Complete Guide to Workflow Automation,”
• The supporting content is “Automation ROI Calculator” and “Common Workflow Bottlenecks.”

This structured approach builds lasting authority that keeps reducing CAC over time.

#2.2 Creating content that targets multiple keyword variations

Here’s a smarter way to create content that ranks for hundreds of keywords with a single piece. Instead of writing separate articles for similar terms, create comprehensive content that naturally includes variations. For example, instead of targeting just “project management software”:

• Include sections on “project management tools”
• Address “project management solutions”
• Cover “project management platforms”

Consider using Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool to find these variations before you start writing.

#2.3 Measuring and Improving Content Performance

Stop guessing what works. Here’s my proven system for continuously improving content performance:

Monthly Content Audit:

• Monitor conversion rates by page
• Track rankings for target keywords
• Analyze user behavior (time on page, scroll depth)

When we spot underperforming content, we don’t just update it – we transform it. Recently, we found a client’s feature comparison page had a high bounce rate. After adding interactive comparison tables and real user reviews, conversions jumped 165%.

Use Semrush’s Position Tracking tool to monitor your progress and identify pages that need attention. Focus on pages ranking positions 5-15 – these often need just a few tweaks to significantly improve their performance and further reduce your CAC.

Practical Case Studies to learn more about CAC

Let’s move beyond theory and look at real companies that have transformed their CAC through strategic SEO. I’ve personally worked with these companies and seen their journey from expensive paid acquisition to sustainable organic growth.

These aren’t just success stories – they’re blueprints you can follow. Each case demonstrates different aspects of using keyword research to dramatically reduce customer acquisition costs.

#1 Success Stories

The most compelling success stories aren’t about overnight wins. Take Pipedrive’s journey – they went from spending heavily on ads to building a content engine that now brings in 4x more organic visitors monthly.

Their secret? They didn’t just create content; they built a keyword research system that identified exactly what their potential customers were searching for at each stage of the buying journey.

#1.1 How Ahrefs grew 60% YOY with their organic content marketing strategy

Let’s look at Ahrefs’ remarkable journey. Ahrefs grew 60% YOY with an average revenue per employee of over $1,000,000.

Ahrefs started blogging in Nov 2015, their first blog went live on Nov 12 2015. In Nov 2015, the total traffic on their blog was a mere 182. Today, Ahrefs does a whopping $120M ARR and little to nothing on ad spend, and over 5.7 million organic visitors a month worldwide. 6,273 keywords ranking in the top 3 results worldwide.

Most of their revenue comes from organic channels, and that’s how it should be. If Ahrefs doesn’t have organic traffic, why would someone buy the ahrefs subscription?

According to Semrush, Ahrefs ranks for 518.7k keywords for organic traffic and 587 keywords for paid traffic. Only 1% of overall traffic comes from paid search.

Instead of joining this expensive battle, Ahrefs:

• Created in-depth tutorials targeting specific use cases
• Built content clusters around long-tail keywords
• Focused on problem-specific searches

Action Plan to reduce CAC using organic traffic

You’ve seen how proper keyword research can slash your customer acquisition costs. Now, let’s break down the exact steps you need to take over the next six months.

This isn’t theory – it’s a battle-tested plan you can use to reduce their CAC by 40-60%. The key is to follow each phase in order and not rush to create content before laying the proper foundation.

Week 1-4: Foundation

Start with proper tracking and research. This phase is about understanding where you stand and where the opportunities lie.

#1 Setting up keyword tracking

• Set up Google Search Console and Analytics integration
• Set up Semrush Position Tracking for your domain
• Create keyword groups based on product features
• Create custom dashboards for CAC monitoring
• Add competitor domains for comparison

#2 Competitor analysis

• Document their content formats and approaches
• Analyze their top-performing pages
• Map competitor content structures
• Identify top 3 organic competitors
• Run Gap Analysis in Semrush

#3 Content calendar creation

• Map content topics to buyer journey stages
• Prioritize keywords by intent & difficulty
• Create quarterly content themes
• Set traffic and conversion goals
• Assign resources and deadlines

Month 2-3: Content Creation

Time to build your content foundation. Focus on quality over quantity – each piece should serve a specific purpose in your acquisition funnel.

#1 Writing pillar content

• Create comprehensive guides for main topics
• Add custom visuals and screenshots
• Include original research and data
• Optimize for featured snippets
• Include clear calls-to-action

#2 Optimizing technical SEO

• Optimize meta descriptions
• Implement schema markup
• Set up proper redirects
• Create XML sitemaps
• Fix site speed issues

#3 Building internal linking structure

• Set up breadcrumb navigation
• Link-related content pieces
• Create topic clusters
• Optimize anchor text
• Create content hubs

Month 4-6: Optimization

Now, we focus on improving what’s working and fixing what isn’t. This is where you’ll see CAC really start to drop.

#1 Tracking rankings and adjusting strategy

• Monitor keyword position changes
• Update underperforming content
• Add missing keyword variations
• Identify new opportunities
• Strengthen weak pages

#2 Analyzing user behavior

• Track conversion paths
• Monitor bounce rates
• Analyze scroll depth
• Test different CTAs
• Review exit pages

#3 Scaling what works

• Double down on high-converting topics
• Expand successful content formats
• Build backlinks to top performers
• Create more content variations
• Increase content production

This is a living plan – adjust based on your results and what you learn about your audience’s behavior.

Key Metrics to Track while trying to reduce CAC

Numbers don’t lie, but they can mislead if you’re tracking the wrong ones. After helping dozens of SaaS companies optimize their acquisition costs, I’ve identified the metrics that actually matter for reducing CAC through SEO.

Forget vanity metrics like total traffic or social shares. Let’s focus on the numbers that directly impact your bottom line and show whether your keyword strategy is actually lowering your customer acquisition costs.

#1 Organic traffic growth

Raw traffic numbers can be misleading. What matters is qualified traffic that matches your buyer intent. Here’s how to measure it properly:

Set up Google Analytics segments to track:

• New vs. returning visitors from organic search
• Pages per session for different content types
• Bounce rates by keyword intent
• Time on site by landing page

For example, if your product page targeting “project management software” gets 1,000 visitors with a 5% conversion rate, that’s better than your general blog getting 10,000 visitors with a 0.1% conversion rate.

Use Semrush’s traffic analytics to compare your growth against competitors and identify gaps in your keyword strategy.

#2 Conversion rate by keyword

This is where you’ll find gold for reducing CAC. Track conversion rates based on:

• Search intent (informational vs. commercial)
• Content type (product pages vs. blog posts)
• Keyword difficulty
• Search volume

I recently helped a client discover that their long-tail keywords about specific features were converting at 4.2%, while their broad terms were at 0.8%.

This insight helped them redirect their content strategy to focus on these high-converting terms, effectively cutting their CAC in half over three months.

#3 Customer acquisition cost trends

Track your CAC monthly, but break it down by:

• Acquisition channel (organic vs. paid)
• Keyword category
• Landing page
• Content type

Create a spreadsheet tracking:
Monthly spend ÷ New customers = Current CAC
Compare this against:

• Previous months
• Industry benchmarks
• Competitor estimates

Watch for seasonal variations and adjust your keyword targeting accordingly. You can see CAC spike during Q4 because you don’t target seasonal keywords effectively.

#4 Lifetime value to CAC ratio

This is your North Star metric.

Calculate it by:
LTV:CAC={Customer Lifetime Value}\{Customer Acquisition Cost}

Track this ratio for:

• Different keyword categories
• User segments
• Content types

For example, we found that customers coming through product comparison keywords had a 40% higher LTV than those from general awareness terms.

This insight helped prioritize content creation for comparison keywords, leading to better ROI on content investment. The ideal ratio is 3:1 or higher.

If you’re below this, your keyword strategy needs adjustment. Above 5:1 might mean you’re not investing enough in growth.

 

 

Ready to reduce the CAC for your startup?

The difference between sustainable growth and burning cash often comes down to smart keyword research. You don’t need to completely abandon your paid campaigns – start by allocating just 30% of your marketing budget to SEO and keep it that way until you see results.

Focus on one high-intent keyword cluster, create comprehensive content around it, and track your results meticulously.

Remember, reducing CAC isn’t about creating more content – it’s about creating the right content for the right keywords. Use Semrush to find those golden opportunities where your competitors are missing the mark, and build your authority there first.

The best time to start was yesterday, but the second best time is now. Pick one action item from this guide – whether it’s setting up proper tracking or analyzing your first keyword cluster – and execute it this week. Your future self (and your burn rate) will thank you.