Lead generation B2B: channels, the cost of acquiring a lead and how to calculate it

In short

• What is B2B lead generation: The planned acquisition of requests from companies that may purchase the offer is calculated separately for each channel.
• Sample for the cost of inquiry: The sum of the channel's costs over a period divided by the number of requests from that channel in that same period.
• What to include in the costs: Advertising, the work of people, tools, content, and events. Just spending on advertising reduces costs.
• How to check the source: The question in the form, the address fields, and the source entry in the CRM. Test the effect using a test or a comparison period.

Lead generation B2B is the planned acquisition of inquiries from companies that may purchase your service or product, measured by how much one inquiry and one contract costs. Without such counting, it is difficult to assess which channel is really working for sales.

In this article, we compare the most common channels, provide a formula for calculating the cost of acquiring a query, and a second formula for calculating the cost of a customer, as well as showing how to determine the source of the query and not confuse coincidence with influence.

What is lead generation in B2B?

Lead generation is the planned acquisition of inquiries from companies that may purchase your service or product. „Lead” simply means contacting someone who has shown interest: they filled out a form, called, wrote, or asked for an offer. Just collecting an email address is not yet a sale, and it often isn’t even an inquiry.

In B2B (sales to companies for companies), the number of inquiries is usually small, and each one is of great importance. One good inquiry can be worth more than hundreds of random clicks. Therefore, the question „how much does one inquiry cost us” is better than „how many visits do we have to make to the website”. We also discuss the basics of the topic in the article. What is lead marketing.

In the next section, we show an overview of the channels, a formula for calculating the cost of acquiring a request, and how to calculate it fairly. Without any quotas, because every company has different costs and different prices for its services. What matters is the calculation method, not the numbers provided by others.

What channels for query acquisition work in B2B?

There is no one best channel. For one company, a search engine will work, for another, LinkedIn conversations, and for another, recommendations. Below is an overview of the most common ones, with some notes on how they behave.

• Search engine optimization (SEO). The client searches for the solution themselves and ends up on your website. The results come more slowly, but they usually last longer. The cost mainly consists of work on the content and the website.
• Advertising in the search engine and on the web. Quick start and easy measurement, but questions keep popping up as long as you pay for advertising. We describe the overview of the indicators in the text. audit of advertising campaigns.
• LinkedIn and social media. It’s good where decision-makers are active and the offer requires explanation. It requires the constant presence of people from the company. More in the article Social media strategy for B2B companies.
• Contents and guides. Reports, guides, case studies, webinars. They build trust before the first conversation. We described the plan in the text. Content marketing strategy for B2B companies.
• Direct messages to selected companies. They work well for a narrow target group, as long as they are prepared thoroughly and comply with the law. You can find the instructions in the article. how to write an email with an offer.
• Orders, fairs and events. They often provide higher-quality questions, but it is more difficult to scale them up and measure them accurately.

Cost of obtaining an inquiry: step-by-step model

The cost of acquiring a query tells you how much a company spends on one query from a given channel. The formula is simple:

the cost of acquiring a query = the sum of the channel's costs over the period ÷ the number of queries from that channel in the same period

The difficulty lies not in dividing, but in what to enter into the numerator and denominator. The most common mistakes are omitting parts of costs and counting requests that are not costs.

1. Choose the channel and the period. For example, „search engine advertising, last quarter.” Costs and queries are taken from the same period.
2. Sum up all the costs of the channel. Not just advertising expenses. Add the work of people (either your own or an agency), tools, content creation, and graphics, and the fees for participating in events.
3. Count the requests. Only those that meet your definition: a person from the target group has requested an interview or an offer. Spam, recruitment contacts, and job inquiries are not included in the criteria.
4. Divide. The result is the cost of one request in this channel.
5. Repeat the same method for each channel. Only then can the channels be compared.

For clarity, in the table below we list what usually goes into the counter in the various channels. This is a list of categories, not values.

Channel	What is included in the costs	What is an „inquiry”?”
Paid advertising	Advertising expenses, the work of an individual or agency, tools, landing pages	Form or phone from the target group
SEO and content	Work on content, editing, graphics, tools, work on the website	The query that began with a search from the search engine
LinkedIn	Time for experts and management, graphics, possible advertising	Message or request for a conversation after contacting the platform
Direct messages	Preparing the letters, working on the content, shipping tools, the merchant's time	Response with a request for an interview
Fairs and events	Participation, booth, transportation, team time, materials	The conversation after the event ended with an agreed meeting

From the inquiry to the client: a second model, more important

Just asking is only half the battle. Two channels can have similar asking costs, and a very different cost for the customer. One gives many loose questions, the other few but serious ones. That’s why it’s worth calculating a second model:

cost of acquiring a customer = the sum of the channel's costs over a period ÷ the number of new customers from that channel

Between them lies another indicator: what percentage of inquiries ends in a conversation, an offer, and a contract. It is this percentage that shows the quality of the channel. In detail, we write about where customers drop out along the way in the text. auditing the B2B sales funnel.

The B2B sales cycle can be long. A request from this quarter may not turn into a contract until a few months later. Therefore, the cost of the customer counts with the delay: you assign the contract to the channel from which the first request came and you look at the results over a period longer than one month.

How do you know that the channel received the request?

This is the most difficult part. B2B clients rarely come to a company through just one channel. They will see an entry on LinkedIn, then search for the company on Google, and then visit a page recommended by a friend. Which channel is responsible for this? Technically, this is called attribution, which is the assignment of merit. You can find more information about this in the text. attribution of conversions.

There are three practical ways, from the simplest:

• Questions in the form and during the first interview: „How do you know about us?”. Simple and surprisingly effective, because it also shows orders and events that are not visible in statistics.
• Address details in ads and messages, which allows the analytical tool to recognize the source of the input.
• Input of the source into the CRM, that is, in the contact and conversation database, for every inquiry. It is worth compiling the data from the form and the conversation, because they often differ.

None of these methods is perfect. Therefore, treat the results as a well-documented approximation, not a verdict. And remember: consistency over time is not an effect. If the number of queries increased after launching the campaign, check if there were no fairs, media publications, or seasonal spikes at the same time. Tests are the fairest: turn off the channel in one region or segment and compare it with the place where it continues to work. Or compare the same period year over year with a record of what changed.

The most common mistakes in calculating the cost of a query

• Counting only advertising expenses. The work of people and tools also costs money. Ignoring them makes the paid channel look cheaper than it is.
• Counting all contacts as inquiries. Downloading the guide is not a request for a conversation. Separate the contacts interested in the topic from the bid requests.
• Comparing channels from different periods. The trade shows in March and the advertising in August say nothing about each other.
• Evaluation of the channel after one month. SEO and content take time. Advertising works faster, but it doesn’t build a lasting asset.
• Looking only at the cheapest query. The cheapest inquiry may come from companies that will never buy. The cost of the customer and the quality of the conversations matter.
• There is no common definition with sales. If marketing counts inquiries differently than retailers, no one trusts the results.

How to make a decision about channels from numbers

Once you have the cost of the inquiry and the customer cost for several channels, don't immediately move the entire pool towards the winner. Ask a few questions:

1. Can the channel be enlarged? Sometimes a cheap channel has a small range and the cost increases with increased effort.
2. Are the inquiries of good quality? Ask the traders which conversations were serious.
3. Is the channel building something lasting? The content and positions in the search engine remain; the advertising disappears at the end of the payment.
4. What happens if the channel stops working? A one-source-based company is susceptible to changes in algorithms and prices.

A good habit is to review small, recurring changes every quarter: the same two patterns, the same query definition, the same list of costs. This way you can see a trend, not just a single result. Aligning channels with the company’s goals is a topic of strategy. It’s worth starting with the goal, the target group, and the division of labor between marketing and sales.

How Commplace can help

We work according to the principle „Don’t guess. Understand. Decide. Win.” In lead generation, this means that first we define the query and the cost list with you, then we measure each channel using the same model, and only on this basis do we propose where it is worth investing further. We report the results with a note indicating what is fact and what is an interpretation.

If you need a provider of online query-generating activities, take a look at their offer. online marketing. If you want to first set goals, target group and channel selection, see marketing strategy. We do not promise a predetermined result. We promise an honest measurement.

Most frequently asked questions about B2B lead generation

What is B2B lead generation?

It is the planned acquisition of inquiries from companies that may purchase your offer. It includes channels such as search engine, advertising, LinkedIn, content, direct messages, and events.

How to calculate the cost of acquiring a query?

Divide the sum of all costs of a given channel over the selected period by the number of requests from that channel during the same period. Costs include not only advertising but also the work of people, tools, and content.

How does the cost of a lead inquiry differ from the cost of acquiring a customer?

The cost of a query is divided by the number of queries, and the cost of a customer is divided by the number of new customers. The second indicator better shows the quality of the channel because it takes into account how many queries end in a contract.

Which lead generation channel is best in B2B?

There is no one best option. The choice depends on the target group, the length of the purchase cycle, and where customers are looking for suppliers. Therefore, channels are compared using the same model and the quality of the conversations are also taken into account.

How to check where the query came from?

The simplest way is to ask the customer in the form and during the first conversation, and also to indicate the addresses in the advertisements and to record the source in the CRM. Combine the data from the different methods because they are rarely identical.