How 8-Figure Brands Are Slashing Customer Acquisition Costs

I've talked with hundreds of eCommerce brands in 2024, and they've all told me the same thing: they want to lower their customer acquisition costs (CAC).

Sending server-side CAPI data to solve signal loss on Meta, Google, and TikTok is now a table-stakes commodity. The real opportunity is to leverage that data to lower CAC and drive business growth.

Here are four examples of how 8-figure annual revenue brands have reduced their CAC by 20% or more by using custom data activation.

▶ 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝟭: 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 $𝟵𝟮𝗠 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲

More than half of this brand's prospecting ads were reaching existing customers because ad exclusions aren't reliable anymore.

By adding custom logic to their data connection, they segmented new purchasers into a distinct data stream. Prospecting campaigns now reach new customers 75% of the time and with a 25% lower CAC.

▶ 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝟮: 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 & 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 $𝟭𝟭𝗠 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲

90% of this brand's orders are low-value sample packs, flooding their pixel with low-value customers and hurting high-value prospecting campaigns (with 5-10x higher lifetime value/LTV).

By splitting full-value orders from sample pack orders, they segmented high-value customers into their own data stream. High-value prospecting campaigns now have a 35% lower CAC, with prospecting ad budgets scaling up 15X.

▶ 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝟯: 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 $𝟰𝟵𝗠 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲

This brand carries thousands of unique product SKUs across four business units. Their ad reporting assumed all campaign purchases were for the intended business unit, leading to inaccurate media decisions.

By adding product-specific logic, they segmented purchases by business unit. Native ad platform reports now break out purchases by business unit, enabling the business to scale up the right ads and lowering CAC by over 20% on key campaigns.

▶ 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝟰: 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 $𝟭𝟯𝗠 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲

This brand runs a subscription business but also sells one-off products. Their ad pixels treated all purchases the same, despite new subscription starts having a 10X higher lifetime value.

By adding segmented events for one-off orders, new subscription starts, and automated renewals, prospecting campaigns now focus on acquiring new subscribers, lowering CAC by 25%.

▶ 𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗬

It's not enough to send data server-side; you need to leverage that data to unlock growth and lower CAC.

Custom data activation and strategy are Popsixle's specialties, setting us apart from basic data connectors and larger competitors who have too many customers to offer bespoke strategic services.

If you know a brand that needs help lowering customer acquisition costs, drop me a DM or tag them in the comments below.