Every dashboard in trades marketing leads with cost per lead. It's the wrong number.
A $35 lead that doesn't book is more expensive than a $90 lead that does. But the platform doesn't know that, the agency doesn't report it, and the owner ends up making decisions on a number that has almost no correlation with revenue.
The math nobody runs
Take two campaigns. Campaign A produces leads at $35 each. Campaign B at $90.
Campaign A books 18% of leads. Campaign B books 62%.
Cost per booked appointment:
- Campaign A: $35 / 0.18 = $194
- Campaign B: $90 / 0.62 = $145
The "cheaper" campaign costs 34% more per appointment. And we haven't even gotten to ran rate, average ticket, or margin.
What to track instead
If you're running a service business, your campaign dashboard should lead with:
- Cost per booked appointment — what you pay to get a job on the schedule
- Cost per ran job — what you pay to get a tech on site
- Revenue per ran job — average invoice, by campaign
- Marketing margin — revenue per ran job minus cost per ran job, minus job cost
Cost per lead can sit somewhere on the page, but no decision should be made on it alone.
The pushback you'll get
If you have an agency, they will resist this. Cost per lead is the metric their dashboards are built around and the metric they look best on.
The right answer isn't to fight about metrics. The right answer is to send your FSM revenue back to the ad platforms and let the numbers settle the argument.
