What’s a Good Cost Per Lead? Real Benchmarks for Service Businesses (From 6+ Years Running Facebook Ads)

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If you’ve ever asked, “Is this a good cost per lead?”, you’re asking the right question — but it’s usually the wrong way to frame the problem.

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After more than six years running paid advertising for service businesses — primarily through Facebook Ads, with supporting campaigns on Google, LinkedIn, TikTok, Snapchat, and others — I’ve learned this:

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A “good” cost per lead doesn’t exist in isolation.
It only matters in relation to lead quality, close rate, and revenue.

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This article breaks down realistic CPL ranges for service businesses, but more importantly, it explains how to think about CPL properly so you don’t optimize the wrong metric and sabotage your growth.

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Why Cost Per Lead Is a Starting Point — Not the Goal

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Cost per lead (CPL) is useful because it’s measurable, comparable, and easy to track. But for service businesses, CPL is only the first filter, not the success metric.

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In our campaigns — spanning industries like:

• Home services (cleaning, snow removal, junk removal, car detailing)
• Professional services (fractional CFOs, agencies, consultants)
• Healthcare & aesthetics (medspas, nurse training facilities)
• Construction & trades (custom home builders)
• Retail & B2B hybrids (commercial battery suppliers)

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—we’ve seen that cheap leads often cost more in the long run if they don’t convert.

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Service businesses don’t win by generating the most leads.
They win by generating enough of the right leads.

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How We Actually Think About Cost Per Lead

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Instead of asking “How do we lower CPL?”, we ask:

• What is a high-quality lead worth to this business?
• How many leads does it typically take to generate one sale?
• Where does the lead drop off — booking, showing up, closing?

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Once you know those answers, CPL becomes a constraint you design around — not something you blindly chase.

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How to Calculate Cost Per Lead (Properly)

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The formula itself is simple:

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CPL = Total Ad Spend ÷ Leads Generated

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But where businesses go wrong is what they count as a lead.

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A form fill that never answers the phone
≠
A lead that books, shows up, and has buying intent

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In our campaigns, CPL is always tied back to:

• CRM-tracked sources
• Call & form attribution
• Follow-up performance (text, email, appointment setting)

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If you don’t have that infrastructure, CPL numbers are usually misleading.

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Realistic Cost Per Lead Benchmarks for Service Businesses

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There is no universal “good” CPL — but based on years of campaign data across Meta and Google Ads, here are realistic ranges we commonly see when campaigns are structured correctly:

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Home Services

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~$25–$80 per lead

Urgency-based services (snow removal, junk removal) tend to convert faster and tolerate higher CPLs when the backend is strong.

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Professional Services (Consulting, Fractional CFO, Agencies)

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~$40–$120 per lead

Higher CPLs are common — and acceptable — because deal sizes and lifetime value are significantly higher.

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Healthcare & Aesthetics (MedSpas, Training)

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~$35–$90 per lead

Lead quality matters more than volume here. Poor targeting can destroy ROI even with “cheap” leads.

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Construction & Custom Trades

~$50–$150 per lead

Longer sales cycles, fewer total deals — but very high ticket values. CPL must be evaluated alongside close rate.

These ranges assume proper targeting, real follow-up, and conversion tracking — not just ads running in isolation.

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Channel-Specific CPL Reality (From Actual Campaigns)

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Facebook Ads (Primary Focus)

• Best for scalable lead volume
• CPL varies widely based on offer and funnel
• Works exceptionally well for local and relationship-driven services

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Google Ads

• Higher intent, higher CPL
• Strong for emergency or problem-aware searches
• Often complements Facebook rather than replaces it

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LinkedIn, TikTok, Snapchat

• Useful in specific B2B or awareness contexts
• Not core CPL drivers for most service businesses
• Easy to overspend without clear attribution

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Geography Matters More Than Most People Expect

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Two identical businesses can see radically different CPLs based purely on location.

• Large cities = higher competition = higher CPL
• Smaller or underserved markets = lower CPL, faster saturation
• Dense service areas require tighter qualification to maintain lead quality

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This is why comparing your CPL to a generic industry average is rarely useful.

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How We Keep CPL Sustainable Without Chasing Cheap Leads

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Instead of forcing CPL down, we focus on:

• Better targeting (excluding poor-fit audiences)
• Clear qualification in ads and landing pages
• Strong follow-up systems using CRM automation and AI-assisted appointment setting
• Fast response times via text and call workflows

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In practice, this often raises CPL slightly while lowering cost per booked appointment and cost per sale — which is the metric that actually matters.

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CPL vs CAC: The Metric That Actually Decides Profitability

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CPL tells you how efficiently you generate interest.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) tells you whether your business model works.

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A $30 lead that never closes is expensive.
A $120 lead that closes consistently is cheap.

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If you track CPL without tracking conversion downstream, you’re flying blind.

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The Right Question to Ask About Cost Per Lead

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Instead of: “Is my CPL good?”

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Ask: “If I could buy more of this exact lead at this price, would I scale it?”

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If the answer is yes, your CPL is good — regardless of what benchmarks say.

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Final Thoughts

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Cost per lead benchmarks are helpful for context, not validation.

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After managing campaigns across dozens of service businesses and millions of impressions, the pattern is clear:

• Businesses fail by optimizing for the wrong metric
• CPL is a tool, not a goal
• Lead quality, follow-up, and economics determine success

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If you understand what a lead is truly worth to your business, CPL stops being stressful — and starts becoming predictable.

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