> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.upstackdata.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# New Customer Marketing Cost: Acquisition Marketing Spend

> Track user-defined marketing costs for new customer orders in Upstack. Includes influencer fees, affiliate commissions, and non-ad marketing spend for first-time buyers.

<Tip>
  Marketing costs allocated to new customer orders only, filtered by customer\_type = new\_customer.
</Tip>

## Formula

<Info>
  **New Customer Marketing Cost** = **Marketing Cost** **WHERE** customer\_type = new\_customer
</Info>

### Formula Components

| Metric                                                                                            | Definition                                           |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| [**Marketing Cost**](/reference/metrics/orders/contribution-margin/marketing-cost)                | User-defined marketing costs from order cost entries |
| [**customer\_type = new\_customer**](/data-dictionary/measures-and-dimensions#visitor-dimensions) | Filters to orders from first-time buyers             |

| Metadata        |                                         |
| --------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| **Type**        | Currency                                |
| **Data Source** | [Upstack Costs](/sources/upstack-costs) |
| **Aggregation** | Sum                                     |

***

## Example

Your store allocated **\$8,500 in marketing costs** to new customer orders in Q1:

| Month    | NC Marketing Cost | NC Orders | Cost Per NC Order |
| -------- | ----------------- | --------- | ----------------- |
| January  | \$2,600           | 412       | \$6.31            |
| February | \$2,800           | 458       | \$6.11            |
| March    | \$3,100           | 521       | \$5.95            |

***

## How It Works

New Customer Marketing Cost filters [Marketing Cost](/reference/metrics/orders/contribution-margin/marketing-cost) to orders placed by first-time buyers only. This isolates acquisition-related marketing spend from retention spend, enabling accurate calculation of new customer contribution margin (NC CM3). Configure marketing cost entries in your Upstack cost settings to capture spend not tracked by ad platform integrations.

***

## When to Use

| Scenario                       | Action                                                       |
| ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Calculate NC acquisition costs | Combine with NC Ad Spend for total customer acquisition cost |
| Analyze NC contribution margin | Include in NC CM3 to see true first-order profitability      |
| Compare NC vs RC marketing     | Benchmark acquisition vs retention marketing efficiency      |
| Budget acquisition spend       | Track and optimize non-ad marketing for new customers        |

***

## Related Metrics

| Metric                                                                                                               | Relationship                            |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| [Marketing Cost](/reference/metrics/orders/contribution-margin/marketing-cost)                                       | All-customer version (NC + RC combined) |
| [Returning Customer Marketing Cost](/reference/metrics/orders/contribution-margin/returning-customer-marketing-cost) | Retention counterpart to this metric    |
| [New Customer Contribution Margin](/reference/metrics/orders/contribution-margin/new-customer-contribution-margin)   | Deducts this cost to calculate NC CM3   |
| [New Customer Total Cost](/reference/metrics/orders/contribution-margin/new-customer-total-cost)                     | Sum of all NC cost components           |

[See all Contribution Margin metrics →](/reference/metrics/orders/contribution-margin)