What's a Good Cost Per Lead? Benchmarks for Florida Service Businesses
Why CPL Benchmarks Matter
One of the most common concerns we hear from businesses new to paid advertising is: 'How do I know if I'm getting a good deal?' Cost per lead (CPL) is the core metric — how much you spend in ad budget to acquire a single enquiry or form submission. But what counts as 'good' varies enormously by industry, location, and competition.
Typical CPL Ranges for Bradenton / Sarasota Businesses
Based on campaigns we run in the Greater Tampa Bay area, here are rough benchmarks by category:
- Home Services (HVAC, Plumbing, Roofing): $35–$85 per lead on Google Search
- Legal Services: $80–$200+ per lead depending on practice area
- Real Estate: $20–$60 per lead on Meta, $60–$120 on Google
- Health & Wellness: $15–$45 on Meta, $30–$70 on Google
- Financial Services: $50–$150 per lead on Google
These are starting benchmarks — as campaigns mature and we build better targeting and landing pages, CPLs typically drop by 20–40% over the first 90 days.
CPL Is Only Half the Picture
A $100 lead is cheap if your average job value is $5,000. A $20 lead is expensive if your close rate is 5% and your margin is thin. The metric that actually matters is cost per acquired customer — CPL divided by your close rate. A 30% close rate on $80 leads means you're paying $267 to acquire a customer. If that customer is worth $2,000, the maths works clearly.
This is why we always want to understand your average job value and typical close rate before we set budget recommendations. The goal is never just cheap leads — it's profitable ones.
Want to model out what paid ads could look like for your specific business? Book a free strategy call and we'll run the numbers together.