Lifetime value (LTV)

Definition

The total profit you'll extract from a customer over their entire relationship with you—basically the only metric that actually matters, yet everyone focuses on acquisition instead.

Example Usage

Our LTV is $2,400 but CPA is $400, which sounds great until churn destroys it by month 6.

Origin

Financial metrics terminology, formalized in SaaS metrics circa 2000s

Fun Fact

Companies obsess over reducing CPA without considering how chasing cheaper customers often results in customers worth less (lower LTV)

Source: Customer financial analytics

Related Terms

Advanced

incrementality

The measure of whether your marketing actually caused additional sales or just took credit for purchases that would've happened anyway. It's the uncomfortable question that keeps attribution models honest and marketers defensive.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

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attribution window

The time period during which a conversion can be credited to a specific ad interaction. It's the arbitrary timeframe marketers use to claim credit for sales that may have happened anyway.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

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video completion rate

The percentage of viewers who actually watch your video ad all the way through instead of desperately seeking the skip button. It's the metric that reveals how compelling your content is versus how fast people can click away.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Beginner

target

In business and marketing, the specific audience segment you're trying to reach, sell to, or manipulate into thinking they need your product. It's the demographic, psychographic, or behavioral group that your entire campaign is aimed at—ideally based on data, but often based on whoever the VP thinks buys stuff. Missing your target means wasted ad spend; hitting it means annoying the right people with your ads.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Intermediate

Market Fit

The magical moment when your product actually solves a problem people are willing to pay for, which happens far less often than startup founders would have you believe. Finding product-market fit is like finding a parking spot downtown: everyone says they have a strategy, but mostly it's just luck.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Intermediate

brand lift

A measurable increase in brand awareness, perception, or purchase intent resulting from an advertising campaign, typically measured through surveys. It's proof that your million-dollar Super Bowl ad did more than just entertain drunk football fans.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

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