LTV
Lifetime value — the total revenue a customer is expected to generate over the duration of the relationship.
Also known as: Customer lifetime value, CLV
Definition
LTV is the ceiling on how much a brand can afford to spend acquiring a customer. For subscription, replenishable, or repeat-purchase categories, LTV often outweighs first-order economics by a factor of 3x or more.
Creator-acquired customers tend to have higher LTV than paid-social acquired customers across most categories — they came in via a trusted source, not a remarketing pixel. Tracking creator LTV separately is the single most under-used metric in the discipline.
Example
A skincare brand sees 18-month LTV of $310 from creator-acquired customers vs $215 from paid-social — justifying a 40% higher CAC ceiling for creator programs.
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