Why a $667 Cost Per Lead Isn’t Expensive in B2B (And Why CFOs Disagree)

“Why did we spend $8,000 for 12 leads?”

If you work in B2B marketing, you’ve heard some version of this question.

The CFO pulls up a search result that says the “average cost per lead is $50,” and suddenly your LinkedIn campaign looks like a disaster.

Forty-five minutes later, you’re explaining:

• B2B sales cycles
• Enterprise deal sizes
• LinkedIn CPMs
• Learning phases
• Why comparing enterprise software to consumer ecommerce makes no sense

And everyone leaves the meeting slightly frustrated.

The real issue is most companies evaluate cost per lead (CPL) in isolation instead of connecting marketing spend to pipeline and revenue.

Let’s break down why that’s a mistake.

The $667 Cost Per Lead Example (Illustrative)

Let’s use simple, hypothetical math to make the point.

• Ad spend: $8,000
• Leads generated: 12
• Cost per lead: $667

On the surface, $667 per lead sounds expensive, especially if someone Googles “average cost per lead” and sees numbers from consumer marketing studies. But B2B enterprise marketing doesn’t work like ecommerce.

Now layer in the revenue model:

• Average deal size: $50,000
• Close rate on qualified leads: 15–20%
• Sales cycle: 3–6 months

Using conservative math:

12 leads × 15% close rate = 1.8 deals
1.8 deals × $50,000 = $90,000 in revenue

$90,000 revenue – $8,000 ad spend = $82,000 net return

That’s roughly an 11x return on ad spend.

Suddenly, the $667 cost per lead doesn’t look so bad.

Why Comparing B2B CPL to “Google Averages” Is Misleading

When CFOs or executives search for “average cost per lead,” they’re often seeing blended data from: consumer ecommerce, low-ticket offers, free trials, high-volume lead gen funnels, and short sales cycles. 

That data is irrelevant for enterprise software, B2B services, complex buying committees, and multi-month sales cycles.

Comparing a $50 consumer lead to a $50,000 enterprise opportunity is like comparing yachts to bicycles. The pricing structure, buying behavior, and risk profile are completely different.

The Real Problem: Cost vs. Investment Framing

CFOs are trained to evaluate cost efficiency. Marketers are trained to evaluate growth leverage.

When marketing reports focus on cost per lead alone, they unintentionally reinforce the cost narrative.

A $667 lead sounds expensive and a lead that contributes to a $50,000 deal sounds like an investment but the difference is context.

If you don’t connect:

Ad spend → Pipeline → Revenue → Return

You’re forcing the finance team to evaluate marketing in a vacuum and marketing always loses that argument.

What B2B Marketers Should Report Instead of CPL Alone

Cost per lead is not necessarily useless, probably just incomplete.

In B2B marketing, better performance metrics include:

• Cost per qualified opportunity
• Pipeline generated
• Revenue influenced
• Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
• Return on ad spend (ROAS)
• Lifetime value (LTV) to CAC ratio

When you show that $8,000 in ad spend contributed to $90,000 in revenue, the conversation changes.

Why LinkedIn CPL Is Often Higher (And Why That’s Okay)

Platforms like LinkedIn often have higher CPMs, lower click volume, and higher upfront CPL.

But they also offer:

• Precise B2B targeting
• Job title and account-level segmentation
• Access to decision-makers

In enterprise B2B marketing, fewer but more qualified leads are often more valuable than large volumes of low-intent traffic. A high CPL is only a problem if it doesn’t convert downstream.

Stop Defending Cost Per Lead in Isolation

If you’re constantly defending why your cost per lead is “too high,” you’re fighting the wrong battle. Instead of arguing about averages from Google, anchor the conversation in deal size, close rates, pipeline contribution, and revenue outcomes. Your $667 lead isn’t expensive if it closes a $50,000 deal.

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Cost per lead is a surface metric and revenue is the real metric.

Until you connect marketing spend to actual pipeline and closed revenue, finance and marketing will keep speaking different languages.

Once you do, the conversation shifts from:

“Why did we spend $8K for 12 leads?”

To:

“How do we scale this?”

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