In digital marketing, lead generation engages with prospective customers via digital channels (i.e., your website, blog post, email, online ads, social media, etc.) Digital lead generation focuses on providing content to prospective customers of high enough value that they declare interest in your product or service by providing you some or all their contact information. It is important to note, however, that even after this type of engagement most of these contacts won’t be qualified at this time. These leads, commonly referred to as Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs), will require further engagement to become actionable leads.

Determining the cost of lead generation first requires a determination of what kind of leads are to be generated. Marketing Qualified Leads can be generated with content automation and digital tools, and they are typically lower in cost. They can cost anywhere from $10 to $500 per lead or more. MQLs need to be engaged by a salesperson to be qualified and evaluated to move forward to become an SQL. This process takes time and resources, and as a result, costs significantly more. High-quality, Sales Qualified Leads can cost anywhere from $500 on up to thousands of dollars per lead.n many businesses, a seasoned sales professional who is newly hired into an outside sales role can work months to identify, qualify, and engage with a new prospect. In this case, the cost of an individual lead would be the fully burdened cost of that sales rep for the duration of the time they took to develop the lead. That could be $10,000 per lead or more.Ultimately, the goal of any lead generation program is to generate the qualified leads you need to support your growth plans at the lowest possible cost. Generating qualified leads at scale involves a lot of variables. The cost and ROI of an effective lead generation program is ultimately a function of your unique business. The greater the value of a new customer the likely higher the cost to generate quality leads.