Creator ROI
What's a good cost per paying customer from creators?
Figures from other apps don't know your prices, your churn or your cash. The number that matters is your own limit, and it takes five minutes to work out.
The short answer
A good cost per paying customer is one below your limit: what a customer is worth to you over your payback window, minus the margin you want to keep. Work the limit out once. Then rebook creators whose whole cost range sits under it, pause those whose whole range sits over it, and test again when the range straddles it.
-
Start from what a customer is worth
Take the revenue an average paying customer brings over the window you care about: the first month for a team watching cash, the first year or the whole lifetime for a funded one. Subtract store fees, refunds and the cost of serving them. That's the most you could pay and still break even.
-
Pick a payback window
Funded consumer apps often accept paying back creator spend over several months; a team short on cash wants it back in the first month. A shorter window gives a lower limit. Write the window down, so every creator is judged by the same rule.
-
Use the range, not the middle number
A creator's cost per paying customer is their fee divided by the customers their posts brought, and that count comes with a range. Divide by the high end and by the low end to get a cost range. A middle figure under your limit with a high end far over it means test again, not rebook.
-
Why we don't publish a typical figure
What a paying customer costs depends on price, niche, market and the creator's audience. We don't yet have enough campaigns from enough apps to publish a fair typical figure, and we won't invent one. When we do, it will come with its sample size and its range.
Worked example
One limit, three creators
Illustrative numbers: a subscription at US$ 12,99 a month, about 6 months kept on average, 15% in store fees and a 30% margin kept. That gives a limit of about US$ 46 per paying customer.
| Creator | Fee | Paying customers, likely range | Cost per paying customer | Call |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creator D | US$ 800 | entre 25 e 40 | entre US$ 20 e US$ 32 | Recontratar |
| Creator E | US$ 1.200 | entre 18 e 35 | entre US$ 34 e US$ 67 | Testar de novo |
| Creator F | US$ 600 | entre 4 e 10 | entre US$ 60 e US$ 150 | Pausar |
Calls against a cost limit of US$ 46 per paying customer: rebook when the whole cost range is under it, pause when the whole range is over it, test again when it straddles the limit.
Questions
Questions, answered.
Should I use cost per install instead?
Installs and sign-ups are earlier signals and easier to count, but they don't pay the bills. Use them while you wait for trials to convert, and make the final call on paying customers.
What if I don't know customer lifetime yet?
Use first-month revenue as a cautious limit. You may pause a few creators who would have paid off later, but you won't rebook one who loses you money.
How many customers does a creator need before I judge them?
Enough that the cost range is narrower than the gap between your rebook and pause lines. With only a handful of customers per creator, the range will straddle your limit, and the right call is test again.
Is this the same as ROAS?
Return on ad spend divides revenue by spend; cost per paying customer divides spend by customers. They agree if you know what a customer is worth. A cost limit is usually easier to apply to one creator at a time.
Keep reading
Related guides
See what your own creators brought
Connect your revenue read-only and add the posts you paid for, or look through a sample report first. Every result comes with its range.