reducing-cac
Use when customer acquisition cost is rising, channel-level CAC is unknown, LTV to CAC ratio is below 3 to 1, or paid spend is growing without proportional pipeline growth. Use when founders feel marketing is not working, when budget needs reallocation, or when organic channels are underinvested ...
SKILL.md
Full skill instructions
CAC Optimizer
Overview
CAC is the top pressure point for SaaS at $1M-5M ARR, where every dollar compounds. This skill takes every execution system already built -- content, GEO, sales enablement, paid -- and ruthlessly optimizes them for acquisition efficiency by decomposing blended CAC into channel-level truth.
When to Use
- Cannot answer "what is our CAC by channel?" with confidence
- Blended CAC is rising quarter over quarter
- LTV:CAC ratio is below 3:1 on any channel
- CAC payback period exceeds 18 months
- Spending on channels out of habit rather than evidence
- Founders or board questioning marketing ROI
- Preparing to scale spend and need to validate unit economics first
- Organic pipeline contribution is below 30%
- Paid media costs rising without conversion improvement
Don't use when: You have less than 6 months of channel-level data to analyze, or fewer than 20 customers to establish patterns.
Quick Reference
| Phase | Duration | Output |
|---|---|---|
| CAC audit | Day 1-3 | Channel-by-channel CAC breakdown |
| Channel efficiency scoring | Day 4-5 | Ranked channel scorecard |
| CAC reduction playbooks | Day 6-10 | Prioritized playbooks per channel |
| Paid media optimization | Day 11-15 | Optimized paid media plan |
| Dying tactics identification | Day 11-15 | Channels to kill or reduce |
| Unit economics modeling | Day 16-18 | LTV:CAC model with scenarios |
| CAC reduction prioritization | Day 19-20 | 90-day reduction roadmap |
Core Deliverables
- CAC Audit -- Channel-by-channel CAC, LTV:CAC ratios, scale/hold/kill verdicts
- Channel Efficiency Scorecard -- Composite scoring across 8 dimensions
- CAC Reduction Playbooks -- Zero-cost flywheel, CRO, ICP precision tactics
- Paid Media Optimization Plan -- Targeting, creative, bidding, retargeting
- Unit Economics Model -- LTV:CAC calculator, marginal CAC, scaling matrix
- CAC Reduction Roadmap -- Prioritized 90-day plan with owners and metrics
Common Mistakes
- Optimizing blended CAC without decomposing to channel level
- Cutting channels without checking multi-touch attribution
- Chasing cheaper leads that churn fast (worsens effective CAC)
- Scaling a channel before marginal CAC analysis
- Ignoring fully-loaded CAC (tools, headcount, agencies)
- Keeping channels alive from sunk cost rather than forward-looking data
- Treating CAC optimization as one-time instead of continuous
Integration
Feeds into: tracking-marketing-metrics, managing-marketing-ops
Refresh: Full CAC audit quarterly. Unit economics monthly. Paid media review bi-weekly. Channel kill/keep decisions quarterly. Marginal CAC analysis monthly before any scaling decision.
See workflow.md for detailed phase-by-phase execution, CAC audit templates, channel scoring matrices, reduction playbooks, paid media checklists, unit economics calculators, and prioritization frameworks.