What is prospecting?
Nicklas Segatz Mortensen · Growth Hacker · Fractional CMO · Meta Ads Nerd · 8 July 2026 · 3 min.
Definition
Prospecting is top-of-funnel advertising aimed at new, cold audiences that have had no prior contact with the brand. The purpose is to build awareness and win entirely new customers.
Also called: Prospecting, Cold audience, Top-of-funnel
Sådan virker det
Prospecting er top-funnel: at nå nye, kolde mennesker, der endnu ikke kender jer. Det er her den inkrementelle vækst skabes — men også her nCAC er højest. Prospecting fodrer den efterspørgsel, retargeting senere høster.
01Prospecting creates the demand
Prospecting is where real growth comes from: new customers who'd never have found you on their own. nCAC is highest here, because cold customers are the most expensive to convince — but it's also the only channel that expands the customer base rather than harvesting the existing one.
Because prospecting feeds the demand that retargeting and brand searches later take credit for in attribution, it's systematically undervalued by last-click thinking. Steer it on MER and incrementality, not attributed ROAS — otherwise you cut into the very engine that drives everything else.
Frequently asked questions
Why is prospecting more expensive than retargeting?+
Because you're paying to convince cold people who don't know you, instead of harvesting warm demand that's already interested. In return, prospecting is what creates new customers and the demand retargeting lives off.
How do I measure prospecting correctly?+
On MER and incrementality rather than attributed ROAS. Attribution credits the lower-funnel channels for sales prospecting actually set in motion, so last-click undervalues prospecting's worth.
Related terms
Glossary
What is retargeting?
Retargeting (remarketing) is advertising aimed at people who've already interacted with you — visited the site, viewed a product, or added to cart without buying.
Read the entry →Glossary
What is nCAC?
nCAC (new Customer Acquisition Cost) is marketing spend divided by the number of first-time buyers. Unlike ordinary CAC, it counts only new customers — not repeat purchases from existing ones.
Read the entry →Glossary
What is incrementality?
Incrementality is the added effect a marketing effort creates: the sales that happened only because the ad ran. Sales you'd have gotten anyway aren't incremental — whatever the platform credits.
Read the entry →Glossary
What is MER?
MER (Marketing Efficiency Ratio) is your total revenue divided by your total marketing spend across every channel. It ignores the platforms' own attribution and shows how efficiently the whole marketing machine is working.
Read the entry →
Nicklas Segatz Mortensen
Growth Hacker · Fractional CMO · Meta Ads Nerd at Oaksmond
Growth hacker and fractional CMO with 10+ years' experience and hundreds of millions in managed ad spend behind him. Background from larger Danish and international scale-ups, and from the agency world.
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