How to Reduce Your CAC in Paid Media: 7 Proven Tactics

The problem: your CAC rises every quarter

If you manage paid media campaigns, you've probably noticed a trend: every year it costs more to acquire a customer. CPMs go up, competition increases and platforms change their algorithms.

But CAC doesn't have to be an upward spiral. With the right tactics, you can reduce it sustainably.

7 tactics to reduce your CAC

1. Audit your tracking before optimizing

You can't optimize what you don't measure correctly. Before touching bids or audiences, verify that your conversions are tracking properly. A misconfigured pixel can completely distort your CAC picture.

2. Structure campaigns by funnel stage

Don't treat someone who's never heard of you the same as someone who visited your pricing page. Separate awareness, consideration and conversion into distinct campaigns with different budgets and creatives.

3. Test creatives systematically

Creative is the biggest lever in paid media. Test at least 3-4 variations per ad set and rotate monthly. Keep a record of which angles and formats perform best.

4. Use aggressive audience exclusions

Exclude current customers, employees, competitors and people who already converted. Every wasted impression raises your CAC.

5. Optimize your landing page, not just your ads

Your ad might be perfect, but if the landing page doesn't convert, your CAC will stay high. Align ad messaging with the landing page, reduce friction and test CTAs.

6. Implement multi-channel attribution

If you only look at last-click, you're making decisions with incomplete information. Implement an attribution model that reflects the true impact of each channel.

7. Negotiate better terms with platforms

If your monthly spend exceeds €10,000, you can access dedicated Google and Meta reps who can unlock betas, credits and additional optimizations.

Expected result

Consistently applying these 7 tactics, our clients see average CAC reductions of 25-40% in the first 3 months.

The key isn't doing one thing—it's implementing a complete system that optimizes every step of the funnel.