{"id":21003,"date":"2023-03-03T15:50:12","date_gmt":"2023-03-03T20:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sanctuarymg.com\/academy\/?p=21003"},"modified":"2023-03-01T15:53:06","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T20:53:06","slug":"google-ads-cost-per-lead-benchmarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sanctuarymg.com\/academy\/advertising\/google-ads-cost-per-lead-benchmarks\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Ads Cost Per Lead Benchmarks by Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Running Google Ads<\/a> is one of the best ways to bring new people to your site. Not only can you bring in traffic, but you can bring in traffic that you have targeted specifically because it is likely to be interested in what it is you have to offer. It\u2019s a powerful tool, to be sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that said, Google Ads can get expensive if you aren\u2019t careful. You need to run an intelligent, organized campaign to keep your cost per lead down, and even with your best efforts, the cost may wind up rising beyond what you can justifiably afford to pay. We\u2019d like to use this article to help you understand what you can expect to pay in various industries for leads generated through Google Ads. In addition to that information, we\u2019ll also provide some ideas on how you can work to lower your cost per lead, no matter what industry you happen to serve. Let\u2019s get started!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cost Per Lead \u2013 A Quick Refresher<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While this is a concept that is pretty familiar to most business owners and managers, it\u2019s worth taking a moment here to provide the basics<\/a> of what cost per lead is and why it is important. Simply put, cost per lead is the financial cost associated with each new lead you generate for your business. So, if you manage to spend a single dollar to bring in a new lead, your cost per lead would be $1. In most industries, you\u2019ll spend far more than that to get a lead, but the concept remains the same regardless of dollar amount \u2013 you need to track your ad spending, while also tracking how many leads those ads generate, to come up with an accurate cost per lead number.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"what<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is a critical metric to monitor because it is the only way to know if your ad campaigns are successful \u2013 and viable into the future. If your leads are costing more to acquire than they are returning to you in terms of revenue, you\u2019ll obviously need to look for other channels to explore. Or, even if you find that your Google Ads campaigns are profitable, you might find that they aren\u2019t as profitable as other options available to you \u2013 so you could redirect these resources accordingly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To determine cost per lead, you are going to take the money spent on a given campaign over a set period of time, and divide that investment by the number of leads you secured. Those leads will be measured by some type of conversion, such as signing up for an email list or contacting your sales team for more information. So, as an example, if you spent $1,000 on Google Ads last month, and 20 people signed up for your email list as a result of that spend, you would have a cost per lead of $50.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing Your Target<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, when looking at the wealth of data that is typically collected from a digital marketing campaign, you might feel like you are staring at a screen full of numbers without any direction or context. In other words, if you don\u2019t have a frame of reference for what these numbers mean and what they should look like, they\u2019ll wind up being meaningless.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Such is the case with cost per lead. If you don\u2019t have any context for this number and you simply calculate it for all of your marketing efforts, you\u2019ll have a list of numbers that doesn\u2019t mean much. Are you doing well? Are you paying too much for leads? Who knows! If the only data you have is data that was generated inside of your organization, you\u2019ll lack context and might think that you are doing better or worse than you are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why having some benchmarks like those we are going to outline in the next section is so important. With a benchmark number to aim for \u2013 something to give your cost per lead calculation some context \u2013 you\u2019ll be able to review your data with confidence and purpose. This way, you can compare your results to the average in your industry, and know how you are faring. Sometimes, this will mean getting some bad news, as happens when you realize your cost per lead is higher than the competition. Even if that is the case, you\u2019ll still be better off knowing the truth, as you can then get down to work on making improvements.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Identifying Some Benchmarks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In this section, we\u2019ll get down to the business of providing some numbers for cost per lead benchmarks in various industries. It\u2019s important to keep a couple of things in mind when looking at these numbers. First, they are just averages. As always, averages fail to capture much of the detail that hides behind the scenes. Your results can and will vary based on many factors, so this is just a starting point for what you can expect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, the online advertising market is dynamic and is subject to the pressures of many economic forces. What looks like a good cost per lead today might be incredibly high next year \u2013 or vice versa. Nothing is ever set in stone when it comes to any kind of market. This is a snapshot in time, but it\u2019s still helpful to gain a perspective on what you can expect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n