Lifetime value (LTV) is the total revenue that a customer spent on a business in its lifespan. It is also known as Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). The calculation of LTV is very important to estimate the economic condition and profit of a business. Lifetime Value is a key component to determine the market value of a company. As with each new customer, the revenue increases so it can give a clear view of the value of each customer. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the amount you invest to get a new customer. If your lifetime value is greater than CAC then it means that you are getting more revenue as compared to the cost that you are spending to get new customers. So, for the establishment of your business, Customer Acquisition Value (CAC) should be less than the Customer Lifetime Value (LTV).
How to measure LTV?
Customer Lifetime Value is not just limited to the relationship of a customer and company until the time of purchase, but it is the long-term relationship, determined by how much revenue was curated by one customer over a number of touchpoints. There are many ways to calculate LTV but it can be calculated through this simple formula given below.
Lifetime Value (LTV)= Customer Revenue Over a Given Period ÷ Churn Rate of a Company Over a Given Period
‘Customer revenue over a given period’ means how much revenue you get from a customer in a specific period, such as 15 days or one month etc. Whereas, churn rate is the percentage of customers who leave you after a specific period.
Suppose that if your customer revenue is $4,000K and the churn rate is 100% then the total LTV can be calculated as:
Lifetime Value (LTV) = 4,000K ÷ 100
Lifetime Value (LTV) = £40K
In the monthly calculation of LTV, if the values of both revenues and churn rates are greater, there will be very little variation in LTV. If your LTV is less than the CAC, then you must think about where you should put effort to avoid a loss in business. You can easily grow your business to try and keep your LTV higher than your CAC.
