Every business wants more business. Even the ones that say “we have too much” — they’re really saying that once they figure out the current growth spurt, they’ll want more.
How do you get more business? Marketing. And how do you make sure your marketing dollars aren’t wasted? Data.
The Point of Marketing
The whole point of marketing is getting more leads. If you have leads coming in, you hopefully have a process to convert them into customers. Leads are always at the top of the funnel. If you want more business, you invariably need more leads.
Those leads come from a variety of sources: referrals from existing customers, advertising, lead-gen platforms like Angi and HomeAdvisor, your website, your social media presence, and more. Some are free. Some cost you money — sometimes a lot of money.
What’s a Lead Worth?
A lead is ultimately worth however much revenue they generate. Some percentage of your leads will convert into customers and give you money. So your first metric is: how much revenue, and from where?
ServiceMinder’s Revenue by Lead Source report breaks this down. It shows how many leads came through each channel and campaign, how many converted, and how much revenue they generated. Most importantly — your revenue per lead. That number needs to be considerably higher than what you’re spending to acquire that lead.
Determine Cost Per Lead
Now that you know your revenue per lead, it’s time to figure out your cost per lead. Revenue tracking is straightforward — ServiceMinder already knows your revenue. As long as you code your leads to the right channel and campaign when they come in, reporting is automatic.
For costs, you’ll need to do some data entry. At a minimum, track your budget by campaign. Some expenses run annually, some quarterly, some monthly. ServiceMinder’s budget tracking tool lets you set the frequency for each campaign you create.
Ideally, track actual expenses too. This matters especially for variable costs like SEO or pay-per-lead services where spend fluctuates month to month.
Once you’ve got both sides of the equation, ServiceMinder’s Revenue by Lead Source report shows your actual and budgeted cost per lead alongside revenue — in one view.
Getting More Business
Now for the point: you want more business.
Look at all your channels and campaigns. Find the ones where revenue per lead is well above cost per lead. These are your winners. Spend more on them, and the math takes care of the rest.
This can be a bit of an oversimplification — you still need to consider things like impression frequency across channels and seasonal patterns. But at the end of the year, the math doesn’t lie. Hunches are great when they’re right, or when you don’t have data to prove them wrong. With the right data, you don’t have to guess.
