Contents
- Cost per lead divides spend by the number of contacts generated over the same period.
- It says nothing about quality: two campaigns at the same cost can have conversion rates from one to three times apart.
- The acceptable threshold is derived from margin per client and the sales conversion rate, never from an industry benchmark.
Definition
Cost per lead measures what it costs to win a sales contact. It's the B2B form of CPL.
Formula
Cost per lead = spend divided by number of leads.
Worked example
A LinkedIn campaign spends 4,800 euros and generates 60 leads, so 80 euros per lead. The team turns one lead in eight into a client, worth 4,000 euros. Customer acquisition cost is therefore 640 euros for 4,000 euros of value: the campaign is comfortably profitable despite a cost per lead that looks high.
Orders of magnitude
In B2B, the cost per lead observed on LinkedIn Ads commonly exceeds Google Ads', the audience being more targeted and the auction more contested. These gaps reflect the value of the contact, not the campaign's performance.
The most common mistakes
- Comparing cost per lead across platforms. A LinkedIn contact targeted by job function and a Google contact from a search don't have the same maturity.
- Setting a goal from a figure read elsewhere. The only valid ceiling is calculated from your margin.
- Optimizing downward without watching qualification. Cost drops, so does the conversion rate, and customer cost rises.
Where to find the metric
In LinkedIn Ads, the Cost per lead column. In Meta, cost per result on lead-generation campaigns. In Google Ads, cost per conversion filtered on the matching action.
Frequently asked questions
The Adwise team connects Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, GA4 and Search Console so agencies and freelancers can run their campaigns from a single place.