Learn Paid Ads
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Revenue LTV isn’t what funds anything

Most LTV calculators stop at total revenue per customer. This works out margin-adjusted LTV too: the figure that should actually set your maximum acceptable CAC.

01

Purchase behaviour

What a retained customer actually does, not what you hope they do.

02

Order economics

Revenue LTV is not what funds ad spend: this is.

Margin-adjusted LTV
£165
vs £288 revenue LTV: the number most calculators stop at

Over 4.8 orders across the customer’s lifespan, at £34 contribution per order.

Revenue LTV
£288
total spend, undiscounted
Margin LTV
£165
what actually funds acquisition
Max CAC at 3:1 LTV:CAC
£55
a common target ratio
Max CAC to break even
£165
1:1, the absolute ceiling

Take the model with you

The spreadsheet version, plus why 3:1 is a starting point, not a law.

Where next

Pick the next stage in your margin journey

One calculator rarely tells the whole story. This is the order that actually works: from margin, to target, to a page that can convert the traffic you send it.

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A fortnightly note on what’s actually working in paid media

The calculators tell you the maths. The Second Number tells you what happens when you run it on a real account from live D2C accounts. No theory.

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