CPA
Cost per acquisition — the total spend required to acquire one customer or one of any defined action.
Also known as: CAC, Cost per conversion
Definition
CPA is the most P&L-relevant metric for performance-led creator programs. It's calculated by dividing total program spend (fees + media + agency cost) by the number of conversions attributed to the program.
Creator program CPA should be benchmarked against the brand's paid-social baseline. In well-run programs, creator content used as paid creative typically beats brand-handle CPAs by 20–40% within 60 days.
Example
A creator-driven Partnership Ads campaign spends $50K and drives 1,250 first purchases — CPA is $40, against a brand-handle baseline of $58.
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