The process of gaining a new customer, subscriber, user, or lead through marketing and sales activity.
A broad term for the work required to turn an unfamiliar audience into new business.
Short and sweet:
The process of gaining a new customer, subscriber, user, or lead through marketing and sales activity.
A broad term for the work required to turn an unfamiliar audience into new business.
See also: Customer Acquisition Cost, Conversion, Lead Generation
Acquisition marks the moment a prospect completes whatever action converts them into an actual customer, sitting at the top of a broader framework that many teams use to track a customer’s full journey, running from initial acquisition through activation, retention, and eventual referral. As a stage rather than just a single metric, acquisition covers every channel and tactic aimed at bringing in that first purchase or sign-up, from paid ads to organic content to referral programs. Because it’s specifically the starting point of the customer relationship, businesses often view acquisition costs in the context of the retention and lifetime value that follow, rather than judging it as a standalone expense.
A mobile game studio measures acquisition largely through app store downloads, tracking exactly how many new players its latest TikTok ad campaign actually brought in.
Streaming services report this same growth metric every earnings call, with investors watching new subscriber counts as closely as revenue itself.
A local gym might track this simply by counting new sign-ups each month, tying that number back to whichever promotion or referral brought each person in the door.
