Lead generation
Activity that captures identifiable prospective customers - names, emails, companies - for sales or nurture to work on. The B2B counterpart of e-commerce conversion; its classic failure mode is grading volume of leads instead of revenue they become.
Where it's used
Used in B2B, education, finance and services through forms, webinars and downloads. Good when sales needs contacts. Measure it by revenue, not form fills.
How to calculate it
Cost per lead = Spend ÷ Leads
Cost per customer = Spend ÷ Customers won
Worked example
Illustrative numbersTwo campaigns spend $10,000 each. An ebook brings 500 leads and 5 customers. A demo offer brings 80 leads and 16 customers.
Ebook, cost per lead
$10,000 ÷ 500 leads = $20
Ebook, cost per customer
$10,000 ÷ 5 customers = $2,000
Demo, cost per lead
$10,000 ÷ 80 leads = $125
Demo, cost per customer
$10,000 ÷ 16 customers = $625
What it tells you
The ebook wins the lead report and loses on revenue. Report the number the business banks.