# Cost per lead

> Ad spend divided by the number of leads it brought, for the same period and campaigns.

Source: https://sporetag.com/glossary/cost-per-lead
Also called: CPL, cost per lead formula.

Cost per lead = spend ÷ leads, for the same campaigns and period. $3,000 that brings 120 leads is a CPL of $25. It is a [CPA](https://sporetag.com/glossary/cpa) where the action is a lead.

Two choices change the number, so state them: **which lead** (a form, a booked call, a phone call) and **who counted it** (the ad platform or your own site). Meta counts leads after ad views and leads other channels also touched; your site or CRM counts each person once.

The most a lead is worth paying for is your close rate times the profit on a sale. At a 10 percent close rate and $1,000 profit per sale, a lead is worth $100. (Example numbers.) Cheap leads that rarely qualify can cost more per customer than dear ones that do, so compare cost per qualified lead when your CRM marks them. See [Meta Ads cost per lead](https://sporetag.com/guides/meta-ads-cost-per-lead) and the [lead generation dashboard](https://sporetag.com/guides/lead-generation-dashboard).

## Related terms

- https://sporetag.com/glossary/cpa
- https://sporetag.com/glossary/conversion
- https://sporetag.com/glossary/ltv