Lead generation

Cost per qualified lead

Ad spend divided by the number of leads that met the qualification bar, such as marketing or sales qualified.

What it is

It moves the measure one step closer to revenue, by counting leads the sales team would actually pursue.

For lead generation

Two campaigns with the same cost per lead can differ several times over in cost per qualified lead.

FormulaCost per qualified lead = spend / qualified leads

Divide spend by qualified leads, which requires the CRM stage to be tied back to the ad that produced each lead.

Measuring it without feeding it back. If the platforms never learn which leads qualified, they keep buying the unqualified ones.