22 Essential Lead Generation Metrics Every Revenue Leader Should Track

Are your lead generation efforts paying off? Many marketers struggle to convert leads into customers—often due to a lack of insight into their performance. By tracking the right lead generation metrics, you can pinpoint areas for improvement, optimize your campaigns, and ultimately boost your ROI.

This guide outlines 22 of the most important KPIs to help you measure your lead generation success and make data-driven decisions.

What Are Lead Generation Metrics & KPIs?

Lead generation metrics indicate how effectively you fill your sales pipeline with potential customers. Key performance indicators (KPIs), will help you:

• Understand which lead generation strategies are working and which ones need improvement.
• Optimize lead generation tactics to increase the number of qualified leads entering the sales pipeline (a top priority for 54% of marketers in 2024 according to ViB).
• Forecast and boost sales and revenue.

The number will tell you what’s working in attracting and converting new customers and what isn't.

How to Choose Lead Gen KPIs

As a business, you have your own goals, target customers, and processes. Therefore, you can’t simply follow a cookie-cutter approach to finding the right generation key performance indicators—some trial and error will always be involved in lead management.

According to ViB, 49% of B2B marketers say generating more leads is their highest B2B marketing priority for the year.

Here’s how to go about identifying the right performance metrics:

• Know Your Target Audience: Consider their psychographics—behaviors, pain points, and preferences—to understand what drives their decision-making process.
• Use Social Media Engagement as Guidance: Likes, comments, and shares can help show what resonates with your audience and the platforms where they are active.
• Examine Industry Standards: Conduct thorough industry research to identify KPIs most relevant to and reflective of industry-specific trends and benchmarks.
• Think About Your Pricing Model: Freemium models should track things like conversion rates from free to paid users, while one-time purchase models need to look at repeat purchases and referral rates.
• Consider Your Stage of Growth: In the early stages, metrics like lead volume and cost per lead are most important to track. More mature businesses need metrics for customer health like customer lifetime value (CLV) or net promoter score (NPS).

22 Best Lead Generation Metrics

These KPIs will help you identify the channels and messaging that resonate most with your ideal customer.

1. Website Traffic

Website traffic measures the number of visitors your website gets within a specific time period. Higher website traffic indicates a strong online presence and that your product/content attracts attention. 

Author's Tip

To monitor this metric, use web analytic tools like Google Analytics. Set up tracking codes on your website and review reports to track visitors, traffic sources (social media platforms or SEO efforts), and behavior.

You can optimize your strategy for better results based on the lead sources and patterns.

2. Bounce Rate

Bounce rate measures the percentage of visitors who leave your website after visiting a page, without taking any further action. A high bounce rate means visitors aren’t finding what they are looking for. It may also mean your landing page UX needs work.

Similar to website visitors, you can monitor this metric using any web analytics tool.

Author's Tip

Experiment with different landing page designs and content to lower bounce rates. For instance, publishing interactive content (think: assessments, ebooks) engages viewers and encourages them to explore more.

3. Social Media Engagement

Like web traffic and bounce rate, engagement (likes, comments, shares) on social media indicates how well your content resonates with your audience.

Using UTMs, Google Analytics, or other attribution software, you can track how much web traffic comes from social channels and adapt your strategy accordingly. An increase in social engagement should correlate with increased web traffic and dwell time.

Author's Tip

If you see an increase in web traffic, but also an increase in bounce rates, then you need to address your web content to better convert leads.

 

If aren’t seeing increased traffic from these campaigns, the problem lies with your social content.

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4. Email Marketing Performance

When launching an email marketing campaign, pay attention to the open rate and click-through rate (CTR). Open rate measures the percentage of recipients who open your email, while CTR shows the percentage of recipients who click on links within the email.

A low open rate may suggest ineffective subject lines or emails that don't resonate with recipients, while a low CTR indicates a need to review your email content and calls-to-action (CTAs).

To improve these metrics, consider using email marketing software like Mailchimp or Constant Contact.

Author's Tip

Test different subject lines and email content to boost open rates, and experiment with various types of content, offers, and link placement to increase CTR.

5. Number of Leads

The number of quality leads represents the total count of potential customers interested in your product or service, but the definition varies depending on whether it's a marketing qualified lead (MQL) or a sales qualified lead (SQL).

MQLs express interest in your product by taking actions like downloading a guide or signing up for a webinar, while SQLs are closer to making a purchase and typically engage with sales teams for further action, like scheduling a meeting or requesting a demo.

The more leads you have, the more effective your lead generation efforts. 

Author's Tip

To monitor performance, use CRM systems or lead management platforms to track leads from various marketing channels and lead generation campaigns. Establish clear goals and regularly track progress, balancing lead quantity with lead quality to enhance conversion rates.

6. Lead Quality

The flip side to lead volume is lead quality. Many MQLs aren't ready to speak to your sales team. This is a poor experience on both sides, with a frustrated sales team chasing leads that won't convert and potential customers getting pestered with endless cold calls. Improving lead quality is a core component of creating a lead management strategy.

Author's Tip

Implement a lead scoring process to rank incoming leads by their likeliness to become paying customers. Top-scoring leads can be handed to sales, while lower scoring (but promising) leads can be enrolled in a nurture campaign.

7. Lead Response Time

Lead response time or speed to lead indicates how quickly you respond to and follow up on an inbound lead or prospect inquiry. The shorter this duration, the better your chances to close deals. Establish a process for lead follow-up and implement automation where possible to keep the lead engaged even when you're out of the office.

Author's Tip

I often set up automated email responses to ensure timely responses and use chatbots to engage with leads promptly—even outside business hours.

8. Inbound Response Time

An inbound lead is someone who reaches out to your company to express interest. A step beyond lead response time, you need to capture their attention fast. Research shows that responding within the first five minutes can increase the likelihood of contact and conversion by up to 10x compared to waiting just 30 minutes.

Author's Tip

Enable automated scheduling links in emails or chat responses, allowing leads to book meetings immediately with the sales team. This minimizes back-and-forth communication and speeds up engagement.

9. Meetings Booked

Meetings booked track the number of appointments scheduled between your team or yourself and qualified leads or prospects. It directly reflects the productivity and effectiveness of your qualification and outreach efforts.

Author's Tip

Use calendar integration or appointment scheduling software like Calendly to track and record the number of meetings booked.

Additionally, consider implementing sales enablement tools and training programs to refine communication and negotiation skills, boosting the conversion rate of booked meetings into closed deals.

Speaking of…

10. Conversion Rate

Conversion rate measures the percentage of sales that successfully transition through each stage of the sales funnel, from lead capture to closed deal. A low conversion rate indicates unsuccessful conversion of leads into customers. Track sales leads through the funnel to see where you lose leads in the process.

Author's Tip

Conversion Rate = (Number of New Customers/Total Visitors) x 100

This simple formula offers valuable insights into the efficiency of your sales process and helps identify areas for improvement.

11. Average Deal Size

Average size measures the average monetary value of closed deals within a specific timeframe.

Author's Tip

Average Deal Size = Total Value of all Deals/Number of Deals

Use this metric to calculate your business’s monthly recurring revenue (MRR) and forecast sales, improve campaign performance, and budget more accurately.

12. Sales Cycle Length or Sales Velocity

The sales cycle length (aka sales velocity) is the average time it takes for a lead to progress through the different sales funnel stages, from initial contact to closed deal. It indicates the efficiency of your sales process, helping you identify bottlenecks or improvement areas.

Author's Tip

Sales Cycle Length = Days Taken to Close All Deals/Deals Closed

In my experience, automated workflows, targeted follow-up strategies, and lead scoring are useful techniques to shorten the sales cycle. To start, implement a CRM system with automated follow-up reminders and personalized outreach sequences.

13. Cost Per Lead

Cost per lead (CPL) measures the average cost incurred to acquire a single lead. A lower CPL indicates more cost-effective lead generation strategies.

Author's Tip

To monitor CPL, track all expenses related to B2B lead generation activities (think: advertising costs, content creation costs, marketing software expenses) and divide that by total number of leads generated over a time period.

If you have a higher CPL, experiment with different advertising platforms and implement different audience targeting strategies to find more economical approaches.

14. Lead Attribution

Attribution is one of the most challenging things to measure accurately with many opinions out there. Lead attribution essentially boils down to which team or what channel gets credit for generating the lead.

To give a very brief overview, most models fall into one of three frameworks:

• First-Touch Attribution: Credit is given to the channel with the first interaction between a potential lead and your business. A big con with this model is it does not measure subsequent interactions, and we know most leads are aware of or interact with a brand on multiple channels before filling out a form.
• Last-Touch Attribution: Conversely, this model measures the last point of contact before someone becomes a MQL. If conversion is a primary metric for you, this is a good model. However, it doesn't account for all of the touches that ultimately drove the lead down the funnel.
• Linear Attribution:  All touchpoints are equal in this model. It gets points for recognizing all of the steps needed to nurture leads, but weighing them equally isn't as useful for identifying the most effective channels.

15. Lead Churn Rate

Most companies will measure company churn, but what about the percentage of leads we lose along the way? If you have a high lead churn rate, that could indicate you are not attracting the right people or you need to rethink your content.

Author's Tip

Keep track of where leads tend to churn. You can expect a higher churn rate at the top of the funnel, where content is the most generic. If you are losing a lot of leads in the middle, you need to better articulate the problems you solve. Churn at the bottom could indicate an issue with your pricing model.

16. MQLs and SQLs

I've mentioned MQLs a few times already, but I included MQLs and SQLs (sales qualified leads) lower in the list because it is hotly debated. Every company defines the qualifications differently, and they can sometimes even differ between teams. This ultimately results in a blame game, with marketing and sales pointing fingers at the other for not delivering what the other needs.

Author's Tip

If you use MQLs and SQLs to measure success, alignment between marketing and sales is critical. Establish a shared definition of “qualified,” clearly outline how and why a lead moves from marketing to sales, and set shared revenue goals to make lead generation a team sport.

17. SQOs

Sales-qualified opportunities (SQOs) bridge the gap between marketing and sales efforts. SQOs are pre-vetted as "sales-ready," improving lead quality and more accurately predicting conversion rates and revenue.

Calculating the cost per SQO can help you understand the efficiency of your lead gen efforts and whether you are spending your budget in the right areas to attract your ICP.

Use this formula:

Cost per SQO = Number of SQOs Generated/Total Lead Generation Costs

Author's Tip

Don’t forget to include ALL costs in your total lead generation costs, including marketing costs, salaries and commissions, software, and outsources services. ​

18. Customer Lifetime Value

Customer lifetime value (LTV) is the total revenue a customer is expected to generate for your business. 

Author's Tip

Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) = (Average Revenue per Account x Gross Margin)/Churn Rate

Note: Churn rate represents total lost customers divided by total customers.

Understanding LTV is crucial for making informed decisions about acquiring and retaining customers, as well as for calculating ROI and setting marketing budgets. Continuously track changes in customer behavior and preferences to optimize this metric. Implementing loyalty programs and upselling/cross-selling strategies can also increase LTV over time.

19. Average Revenue per Customer (ARPC)

ARPC helps you understand the average revenue you generate from each customer. By tracking this, you can identify if your efforts are attracting high-value customers or if there’s room to optimize your acquisition strategies.

Author's Tip

To calculate ARPC, use this formula:

ARPC = Total Revenue / Total Customers

20. Customer Acquisition Cost

Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is your average cost to acquire a new lead and is crucial for staying on track with your marketing budget. Naturally, the lower the CAC, the better—you’re not compromising profitability to acquire new customers.

Author's Tip

The key to reducing CAC lies in enhancing lead quality, focusing on prospects more likely to convert, and optimizing lead conversion rates and sales cycle times.

21. Revenue per Lead

Revenue per lead indicates how much revenue each lead brings in on average, reflecting lead quality and sales effectiveness. 

Author's Tip

Revenue per Lead = Total Revenue/Number of Leads Generated in Specific Period

Implement lead scoring to prioritize valuable leads and optimize resource allocation. Analyze conversion rates at each sales funnel stage to identify areas for improvement and boost revenue per lead.

22. Return on Investment

Return on investment (ROI) measures the profitability of an investment compared to its cost, guiding the evaluation of sales and marketing efforts. Monitoring ROI ensures resources are directed to activities yielding the highest returns, maximizing overall profitability. 

Author's Tip

ROI = (Revenue Generated – Total Cost of Campaign)/Total Cost

Implementing robust tracking and attribution channels helps to accurately measure the revenue generated by each marketing and sales channel.

What Gets Measured Gets Improved

To understand which lead generation KPIs are most important to your business, be prepared for some trial and error. And automate as much as possible to save time and achieve better results.

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