Cost Per Leads (CPL) Benchmarks Across Indian Cities
The
need for digital marketing is evolving rapidly. Whether you are launching a new
project or advertising your brand, digital marketing stands as one of the
strongest pillars of the advertising industry.
However
not many are aware of digital marketing’s core concepts. Let us discuss what is
essential for effective marketing spending and realistic sales forecasting. The
concept is known as Cost Per Lead (CPL) and it is used by developers to plan
their marketing budget in a better way.
It
changes by platform, campaign type, property segment, and, crucially, by
geography. But why is CPL a core concept? What does it really mean? How are CPL
benchmarks created?
Let’s
look into the details step-by-step to understand how this process works and why
it plays an important role.
To
explain, Cost Per Lead (CPL) is the amount of money you spend on a potential
customer to get their interest in your project online. It could be someone who
has filled a lead form, downloaded your brochure, requested a call back, signed
up for a site visit or sent an enquiry through your brand’s website or social
media sites.
For
instance, if you have spent ₹10,000 on your ads and received 100 leads,
then your CPL = ₹100 per lead. So, in short CPL helps you to understand if your
marketing money is being spent in a correct manner.
If
you think CPL remains the same everywhere, then you need to think again. CPL
varies differently across different Indian cities. This is due to the different
demands in different Indian cities along with the competition and property
pricing.
Let
us understand how CPL benchmarks are created in different cities and how they
are different from each other.
●
Market competition:
The big cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore or Delhi run digital marketing
campaigns at the same time. This is due to the demand and higher competition.
So higher demand leads to higher Cost Per Lead (CPL)
●
Property Prices:
Some properties have higher prices depending on their geographical
location. Thus, high budget cities or expensive cities have higher Cost Per
Lead (CPL). Also developers in these are ready to invest more to get good
quality leads.
●
The Size Of The Audience:
The metropolitan Indian cities that are Tier-2 and Tier-3 have larger
online audiences with lower ad costs. This reduces CPL and sometimes the lead
quality can also be lower.
● The Buyers’ Intent:
In some cities, buyers are more active and serious. Ads targeting such
audiences cost more which increases the Cost Per Lead (CPL)
What Are The Platforms That Affect Cost Per Lead?
There
are different social media platforms that lead to different CPLs in the
advertising process. Let’s understand in detail:
1. Facebook / Instagram (Meta)
● It generally has lower CPL.
● It is great for mass reach
and quick visibility.
● It works well for mid-range
projects.
2. Google Search Ads
●
While it has a higher CPL, the intent is also higher.
● There are already users
searching for the exact search such as “2 BHK in Thane” or “Flats in Bangalore”
3. YouTube Ads
● It is good for more brand
awareness.
●
But the CPL depends on video quality and targeting.
4. Property Portals
●
It is usually costlier than Meta but brings good
quality enquiries.
● It is great for mid to
premium projects and portals such as 99acres, MagicBricks, Housing.com are of great help in
understanding CPL Benchmarks.
How can developers use CPL benchmarks?
The
developer can use CPL Benchmarks by setting a realistic budget for their
project. If you have a project in Mumbai, and your range is around ₹500, then
spending ₹50,000 should ideally give you around 100 leads.
The
low lead quality doesn’t always mean good results so the focus should be on
both, CPL + Lead quality. You should also understand the budget in specific
cities and examine how and which platforms can give the best results.
To conclude,
CPL is one of the most important metrics for developers because it directly affects your marketing budget and project sales. Understanding CPL benchmark across Indian cities helps you plan smarter, optimise better, and achieve higher returns on your digital marketing spend.
