This course aims to cover the costs associated with customer acquisition for Software as a Service (SaaS) and digital marketing. While the arithmetic might be simple, the ability to understand customer acquisition costs and compare them relative to the lifetime value brought in by the customer is fairly complex.

We, therefore, aim to shed some light on the benchmarks of customer acquisition costs(CAC) and lifetime value (LTV), as well as other metrics which help understand the overall financial implications of your marketing activities.

At the end of this course, you’ll understand in a deeper way how to assess whether your business model is failing due to high CAC costs. You’ll also understand the interrelationship that CAC has between churn rates, profitability, and cash flow.

We set standards for both SaaS and digital marketing companies and outline best practices for both industries. 

Learning Objectives
  • Explore the cost drivers of customer acquisition within Software as a Service (SaaS) and Digital Marketing businesses.
  • Identify benchmarks for efficient and optimal customer acquisition costs (CAC) and lifetime value. (LTV)
  • Explore ways to optimize CAC and LTV.
  • Discover ways to calculate key metrics such as CAC, LTV, Annual Revenue Per Account (ARPA), Revenue, Churn Rate, and Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR).
  • Identify key SaaS goals and profitability metrics such as microeconomic profitability, overall profitability and profitability per employee.
  • Discover the key drivers of microeconomic profitability on the LTV side such  as ARPA, average customer lifetime, cost to serve, churn rate. As well as on the CAC side such as number of closed deals, total cost of sales and marketing, sales funnel conversion metrics, marketing program costs, level of touch required, personnel costs.
  • Explore the relationship between cash management and CAC.

 

Last updated/reviewed: August 20, 2023
25 Reviews (86 ratings)

Reviews

3
Anonymous Author
I am extremely interested in learning about SaaS metrics and I found the content in this course to be rich in its review of several metrics that SaaS should (do) care about and how they are calculated. However, there is much more about SaaS metrics that can and should be presented in future courses. I would also warn that the presentation of this material is very dry. The input design and marketing specialists would considerably enhance the presentation.
4
Member's Profile
Interesting information. I would have liked more in depth coverage of the ratios. It also fits with our subscription model for accounting services, so some examples in that area would have related it to our industry.
5
Anonymous Author
Good ideas about metrics and as well why to track them. This will allow Saas businesses to effectively manage the metrics and to track and measure performance within the business.
2
Anonymous Author
don't mean to be offensive, I just try to expose my experience in a factual manner, but it was really hard to follow due to the heavy accent. I don't mean to be rude.
5
Anonymous Author
I enjoyed this course because it was concise and had good, useful information. It's nice to have a course that is short, sweet, and to the point.
5
Member's Profile
Lots of info in half hour. Hits all the main things you need to know about this subject. Would recommend to anyone looking for a quick primer.
5
Member's Profile
The course is excellent! The instructor does an amazing job presenting the material in a meaningful and professional way.
5
Member's Profile
This hit the most important elements of SaaS metrics, and the expected results. Appreciated providing target rates.
5
Member's Profile
I am a financial controller from a SAAS company. this course helps me get understand our industry benchmark index.
2
Anonymous Author
this presenter uses too many acronyms ant too much jargon without first defining them for the participants.
4
Anonymous Author
Good material and overview of SAAS metrics. Sound was a little low could be increased but otherwise good
5
Member's Profile
Very helpful to understand the critical metrics in SaaS business, just what I wanted, thank you!
4
Anonymous Author
pretty good for the short nature of the course. I would definitely like to see more.
5
Member's Profile
surprisingly practical, clear, and well-illustrated. thoroughly enjoyed this course.
5
Anonymous Author
Great intro course with overview of relevant SAAS metrics and the 'whys' behind them
3
Anonymous Author
Good topic however contents should be elaborated on more. Not everyone knows SaaS.
5
Anonymous Author
Easy to follow. Nice to have examples to do the calculations and also benchmarks.
5
Anonymous Author
Interesting course - I took it because I do not have much knowledge in this area.
1
Member's Profile
Awful course; complete waste of my time. Very basic and difficult to understand.
5
Member's Profile
Fantastic class. Concise and focused on the metrics and how to evaluate them.
5
Member's Profile
This is a good course on SAAS metrics. Thank you for putting it together.
5
Member's Profile
Brief yet very informative materials, good pace to course
4
Anonymous Author
Very concise, practical introduction to the key metrics.
4
Anonymous Author
Quick and easy to understand, great relatable examples
4
Anonymous Author
terrific overview of the metrics for a saas business
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Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Intermediate

No Advanced Preparation or Prerequisites are needed for this course. 

Education Provider Information
Company: Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact: For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .
Instructor for this course
  Course Overview CPE
Course Syllabus
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
  Introduction to SaaS and Digital Marketing Metrics2:49
  Customer Acquisition5:24
  LTV6:08
  CAC Payback and Managing Churn5:35
  Reducing Churn Rates and Summary5:41
CONTINUOUS PLAY
  SaaS and Digital Marketing Metrics25:37
SUPPORTING MATERIALS
  Slides: Saas and Digital Marketing Metrics PDF
  Saas and Digital Marketing Metrics PDF
REVIEW AND TEST
  Review Questions quiz
 Final Examexam