What you should pay per lead
A cheap lead that never answers the phone is the most expensive lead you buy. Here is how to judge cost per lead the way your desk judges a deal.
The real number
Cost per lead vs cost per real buyer.
Cost per lead is what Ads Manager reports: your spend divided by the number of form fills. It counts a burner number the same as a buyer with a trade. Cost per real buyer only counts the leads a person on your team can actually reach and work.
That is the number that tells you whether your ads are working. Two campaigns with the same cost per lead can be very different deals if one sends real buyers and the other sends junk.
- Cost per lead: spend divided by every form fill
- Cost per real buyer: spend divided by the leads your BDC can reach
- Cost per sale: the number that matters at month end
Junk costs twice
Why junk leads raise your true cost.
You pay for a junk lead twice: once in ad spend, and again in BDC time spent dialing numbers that ring nowhere. Burner and VOIP lines, disposable emails, and automated fills arrive in the same queue as real buyers, and the real buyer further down the list waits.
Filtering does not refund the click. What it does is stop your BDC paying for it a second time, and put real buyers at the top of the queue so follow up stays fast. That is how scoring lowers your real cost per sale. See how every lead is scored.
What moves it
What changes your cost per lead.
Three things move the number more than any ad trick.
Budget
How much Meta has to work with
Your daily budget sets how many shoppers see your units. Most single rooftop stores typically start somewhere between $2,000 and $5,000 a month in media, but the right number depends on your lot and your market.
Inventory
How many units are in market
More units in the catalog means more chances to match the right car to the right shopper. A catalog missing part of your lot is working with fewer cars than you actually have.
Area
Where your buyers are
A dense metro and a rural market price attention differently, and how far buyers will travel for the right car changes who you can reach. Your area sets the baseline.
Typical ranges
What dealers typically pay per lead.
These are the ranges our campaign setup shows dealers before launch. They are typical, not a promise: your market, your budget, and your inventory move them.
| Campaign type | Typical cost per lead | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Lead forms inside Facebook | Typically $15 to $25 | Simple setup, no website needed |
| Website traffic to your vehicle pages | Typically $35 to $60 | A mobile ready website |
Use these as a sanity check, then judge every campaign on cost per real buyer. A cheap lead that never answers is worth less than a pricier one that books an appointment.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good cost per lead for a used car dealer?
It depends on the campaign type, your market, and your inventory. In our campaign setup, lead forms that run inside Facebook typically come in at $15 to $25 a lead, and website traffic campaigns typically run $35 to $60. A good cost per lead is one where the leads answer, so judge it on cost per real buyer, not the raw number.
Is ad spend included?
No. You pay Meta and Google directly on your own payment method, and DealerDrive never touches it or marks it up. Our monthly fee covers the catalog build, lead scoring, ADF delivery to your CRM, and a monthly review. See pricing for the details.
How do I lower my cost per lead?
Get every unit into the catalog, keep prices and sold units in sync, give the campaign a steady budget, and use lead forms inside Facebook where they fit. Then lower your cost per real buyer by filtering junk before it reaches your BDC, so your team calls real buyers first.
What to read next
Want to see it running?
Fifteen minutes, a live dashboard, and another dealer's real numbers with the names removed.