CPL, cost per lead, is total spend divided by the number of leads it generated. It is the standard efficiency metric for lead-generation campaigns, especially in B2B and high-consideration categories where the sale happens offline or over time.
Why it matters for agencies
A low CPL is only good if lead quality holds. The numbers that matter downstream are cost per qualified lead and, ultimately, cost per closed deal — so CPL should be read alongside lead-to-MQL and MQL-to-SQL conversion. Optimising purely for cheap leads tends to flood the pipeline with traffic sales can’t close.
Run the numbers with the free CPL calculator.