Paid Search CAC by Keyword Calculator

Not all paid search keywords pay back. High-intent keywords (brand, competitor, bottom-funnel) deliver 5-10x lower CAC than research keywords. Calculate CAC by keyword cluster and kill the losers — most B2B teams have 30-50% of paid search spend producing negative ROI.

Cluster the Account

Split campaigns into 4 clusters and calculate CAC separately: (1) Brand — your own brand name. Lowest CAC, highest intent. (2) Competitor — competitor brand names. Medium CAC, high intent. (3) Bottom-funnel commercial — '[category] software for X'. Healthy CAC. (4) Research/top-funnel — 'what is [concept]'. Usually loses money for B2B. Pooled CAC hides which cluster is broken.

Kill the Losers Fast

Most B2B paid search accounts have 30-50% of spend producing LTV:CAC <1:1. The fix is brutal: pause clusters with LTV:CAC <1.5:1 for 30 days, see if pipeline drops materially, then make pause permanent. Reallocate budget to brand and competitor clusters that already work. WordStream benchmark: top-performing B2B accounts run <10% of spend on research keywords; bottom-performing accounts run 40%+ and bleed cash. Pause first, optimize second.

Last updated May 2026. Sources: WordStream Paid Search Benchmarks.