For software and service companies
If you advertise for sign-ups, trials or demo requests and the money arrives days or weeks later through Stripe or a sales pipeline, Datarithms shows which campaigns end in paying customers and what each one costs.
Why do sign-up numbers mislead a software company?
Ad platforms optimise for the event you tell them to, usually a sign-up or a trial start, because that is what they can see. A campaign can be excellent at producing sign-ups that never pay. The platform reports it as your best campaign while it costs you the most per paying customer.
| Campaign | Platform-reported sign-ups | Paying customers | Cost per paying customer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lookalike, sign-ups | 410 | 48 | $116 |
| Search, brand terms | 95 | 31 | $40 |
Spend: $5,570 and $1,240 over 28 days. The campaign with four times the sign-ups costs almost three times as much per paying customer.
What does the weekly table tell you?
- Which campaigns stay up: they bring paying customers at a cost you can live with.
- Which go down: they cost noticeably more per paying customer, with the amount to cut or move.
- Which are too early to judge: fewer than 30 paying customers, so no position yet.
- How many paying customers could not be matched to any ad.
| Pos. | Campaign | Spend, 28 days | Paying customers | Cost per paying customer | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Search, brand termsGoogle Ads | $1,240 | 31 | $40 | Keep |
| 2 | Reels, free trial offerMeta Ads | $2,910 | 34 | $86 | Keep |
| 3 | Lookalike, sign-upsMeta AdsCosts 2.9 times your best campaign per paying customer. | $5,570 | 48 | $116 | Cut 20% |
| – | Job title targetingLinkedIn Ads | $1,960 | 4 | Not shown | Too few to tell |
| – | Spark ads, demo videoTikTok Ads | $640 | None yet | Not shown | Too few to tell |
- Stays up: keep
- Goes down: cut or move budget
- Fewer than 30 paying customers: no position yet
Cost per paying customer = spend ÷ paying customers. Not shown below 30 paying customers.
What do you need to get started?
Export files from the ad platforms you use, your sign-up records with their source, and a Stripe payments export or HubSpot closed-won deals. How it works lists the rules; the platform pages list the exports.
Related pages
- How to calculate cost per paying customerSpend divided by customers who paid and stayed. How to count both sides honestly.
- How to match Stripe payments to ad clicks with exportsStep by step: join ad exports, sign-up records and Stripe payments by hand.
- For agenciesFor agencies running ads for clients: a dated record of each budget change and what happened next, in paying customers, for the monthly review.
- How it worksThe matching rules behind the weekly table: last ad click within 90 days, refunds within 14 days excluded, no verdict under 30 paying customers.
Want your own table?
Tell us which ad platforms you use and roughly what you spend. We reply by email within two working days.
Early access: we prepare your weekly table with you from your own exports while the direct connections are built.