5 Things Learnt About Lowering CAC Before Black Friday
This is my first blog post, and I’m only three weeks into the marketing measurement industry.
I won’t pretend to have years of Black Friday experience (maybe as a shopper). But I now know lowering customer acquisition cost isn’t about better ads or cheaper clicks.
Here are five points I’m taking away so far.
- CAC starts with your margins
A positive ROAS doesn’t always mean a campaign is profitable. Customers told me.
An €80 order might leave €28 after product costs, delivery, or fees. If acquiring that customer costs €35, the campaign can generate revenue while still losing money.
Before spending more, know what a new customer can actually cost you.
- More traffic isn’t always the answer
If a product page is slow or checkout is difficult, sending more visitors won’t fix the problem.
Sometimes the better move is to convert more of the traffic you already have.
Reliable first-party data (us) can help you see where customers are actually dropping out.
- Black Friday preparation starts way before
Waiting until Black Friday means trying to build an audience when every other brand is doing the same.
Early-access lists, wishlists, product comparisons, and useful emails can create interest before the discounts arrive.
A customer who already knows the product is very different from someone discovering it for the first time in a crowded feed. Take action beforehand.
- Place a test order yourself
Click one of your real campaign links and complete a purchase.
Did the store record it? Did analytics receive it once? Was the revenue correct? Did the campaign information survive checkout?
Platforms won’t always agree because they use different attribution rules. Sometimes Meta or Google might claim the same sale. Missing or duplicated purchases are important problems worth fixing.
- Ad platforms need accurate information
Ad platforms optimise using the conversion data they receive.
If purchases are missing, duplicated, or sent with the wrong value, they are learning from an incomplete picture. Very dangerous.
Server-side measurement (us) can provide a more reliable path for that data. It won’t automatically lower CAC, but it can give both marketers and platforms better information to work with.
My first-month takeaway
Im not sure if there's one clever trick that suddenly lowers customer acquisition cost.
It comes from understanding your margins, improving the buying experience, preparing early, and checking whether the data reflects what actually happened.