What is a good cost per lead?
Last updated 1 September 2026
TLDR
There is no universal good cost per lead — the only meaningful benchmark is your own. Work backwards from average deal value, close rate and target margin to get the highest cost per lead you can pay profitably, then measure against that. Industry averages vary so widely that they are close to useless for decisions.
Key facts
- Maximum affordable cost per lead equals deal value times close rate times target margin share.
- Lead quality varies enough that a cheaper lead is often the more expensive one.
- Cost per lead without close-rate data is a vanity metric.
- Cost per acquired customer is the number that governs budget decisions.
- Benchmarks across industries differ by more than an order of magnitude.
How do I calculate my ceiling?
Take your average deal value, multiply by the proportion of leads that close, and multiply by the share of that revenue you are willing to spend on acquisition. If a deal is worth £4,000, you close one lead in ten, and you will spend a quarter of revenue on acquisition, your ceiling is £100 per lead.
Anything below that is profitable at your current close rate. That is the only benchmark that governs a decision.
Why do cheap leads often cost more?
Because close rate moves with source. Broad-match traffic and lead-magnet downloads produce volume at low cost and close at a fraction of the rate of high-intent search. The blended cost per customer can be worse even as the cost per lead improves.
Always segment cost per lead by source and pair it with close rate.
What should I optimise toward?
Cost per acquired customer, or revenue per pound spent if your deal values vary a lot. Feed closed-won data back into your ad platform so bidding optimises toward customers rather than form submissions.
If your conversion tracking is not reliable, fix that before optimising anything else.
Sources
- Helix attribution methodology — Closed-won feedback approach described above.
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