1. The document provides a benchmark study of cost-per-lead (CPL) advertising across different industry verticals based on research from Pontifex, a marketplace connecting companies to interested consumers through CPL pricing. 2. On average, CPL prices vary based on the industry and number of consumer contact fields collected, with prices generally higher for more fields. Common lead engagement strategies by industry include e-newsletters, social communities, and loyalty programs. 3. Methodology notes the study analyzed over 709 campaigns from August 2008-July 2009 with a minimum spend of $5,000. CPL pricing does not account for emerging media.

1. Cost-per-Lead Advertising
Data Report
CPL Benchmarks across
Industry Verticals
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2. Introduction
It is no surprise that performance advertising has grown tremendously over the past few years. In turbulent
economic times, marketers are forced to do more with less. At the same time, audiences are more fragmented,
making engagement and brand loyalty more di cult to accomplish. Advertisers are faced with the dual chal-
lenges of both increased scrutiny over ROI and a more competitive marketplace through which to reach their
target consumers.
To address issues of measurability and audience engagement, marketers have turned to pay for performance
pricing models, wherein media is purchased based on a de ned success metric or speci c action - instead of
impressions. As a result, Cost-per-Lead (CPL) advertising has gained signi cant traction across verticals.
This rst quarterly report provides a detailed overview and measure of the market, including:
1. CPL Advertising Overview
2. Ponti ex CPL Benchmark Study
a. How Advertisers Engage Marketing Leads
b. Average CPL and Sample Lead Engagement Strategies by Industry
i. All Industry Verticals
ii. Consumer Packaged Goods
iii. Travel
iv. Non-pro t
v. Health
vi. Entertainment
vii. Online Retail & Catalog
viii. Technology
3. Methodology
Cost-per-Lead Advertising Overview
Online lead generation is a broad term used to de ne the acquisition of consumer contact information through
digital advertising. Cost-per-Lead (CPL) is the pricing model through which advertisers ask consumers to provide
contact information and pay only for the contact information, or lead, collected.
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3. When advertisers think of lead generation, they often picture consumer contact information sold through list
brokers and lead generators without strict opt-in policies. This category of lead generation is known as “sales
leads.” Sales leads are generic leads that are often resold to multiple advertisers.
However, the emergence of marketing leads has changed the online lead generation landscape. A marketing
lead is the contact information of a consumer who has explicitly signed up to receive communication from a
speci c brand. Marketing leads are collected on a strict opt-in basis and are never resold.
In a marketing leads CPL campaign, advertisers gain exclusive marketing rights to individuals who want to hear
from them, and pay only for valid sign ups. As a result, marketers from all major industry categories have adopted
CPL advertising, including The 2008 Barack Obama Presidential Campaign, Kimberly-Clark, Disney, Blockbuster,
Blackberry, UNICEF, Travel Nevada, NewEgg and Graco.
The Ponti ex CPL Benchmark Study
Ponti ex is a marketplace that connects companies to interested consumers (i.e., marketing leads) through a CPL
pricing model. Over the past year, Ponti ex has compiled research on how di erent industry verticals use
marketing leads and how Cost-per-Lead prices vary based on the industry sector and the number of elds
collected as part of a lead.
How Advertisers Engage Marketing Leads: Overall
As shown in the following graph, advertisers commonly engage marketing leads through social networking
groups and community sites. Examples include the Kimberly-Clark Facebook widget, the Obama Community
(across multiple media vehicles) and the Graco Nation community site. A signi cant percentage of advertisers
also use e-newsletters to engage marketing leads. Examples of e-newsletters include the Dunhill Travel Deals
newsletter and the Coldwater Creek Exclusive O er e-newsletter.
Typically, brand marketers use marketing leads to build engagement vehicles such as community sites,
e-newsletters, social networking groups, and loyalty programs.
Direct response marketers use marketing leads to build e-newsletter lists and direct mail lists to drive revenue.
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4. Source: Ponti ex Internal Research, July 2009
Average Cost-per-Lead and Sample Lead Engagement Strategies by Industry
At the most basic level, the Cost-per-Lead varies according to the information collected in a lead. A lead is com-
prised of di erent elds that give information about an end user – Name, Email Address, Postal Address, Twitter
username, etc.
There are two levels of information that can be collected as part of a marketing lead:
1. Basic elds: This is the information required to contact a consumer who has signed up for an advertiser
o er. Basic elds include First Name, Last Name, Email Address and Postal Address Fields.
2. Premium elds: Premium Fields o er more detailed information over and above the basic consumer elds.
Premium elds include:
a. Telephone numbers
b. Twitter usernames
c. Custom questions such as, “Have you traveled to Hawaii in the last year?”
d. Geo-targeted information
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5. As shown below, increasing the number of elds increases the Cost-per-Lead.
Source: Ponti ex Internal Research, July 2009
As is true for landing pages deployed in banner and search campaigns, collecting more information increases
drop-o and reduces lead volume.
For that reason, CPL advertising best practices recommend capturing basic information during the rst contact
with the end consumer, and capturing additional information over time as the brand builds a relationship with
the consumer.
The following charts represent the costs of a marketing lead by vertical—i.e. the cost of acquiring the contact
information of a consumer who has signed up for an advertisement, and granted the advertiser explicit permis-
sion to contact them with future messages.
The verticals included in the report were selected based on the patterns of demand for marketing leads. While a
wide variety of industry sectors are represented, this is not an exhaustive list of all verticals using CPL to date.
Ponti ex will expand this study to include more industry verticals in future reports.
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6. Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
Source: Ponti ex Internal Research, July 2009
Lead Engagement Strategies: CPG
Reynolds engaged acquired leads through a “Special Deals” newsletter, while Kimberly-Clark drove users to a
pregnancy countdown widget for the HUGGIES brand.
Travel
Source: Ponti ex Internal Research, July 2009
Lead Engagement Strategies: Travel
Dunhill Vacations used marketing leads to build a travel e-newsletter list while interactive agency Ruf Strategic
Solutions used marketing leads to build a direct mail list for the Travel Nevada campaign.
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7. Non-Pro t
Source: Ponti ex Internal Research, July 2009
Lead Engagement Strategies: Non-pro t
In the non-pro t/political advocacy vertical, the 2008 Barack Obama Presidential campaign used marketing
leads to build a community around the Obama brand, while WeCanSolveIt.org engaged marketing leads
through its website for advocacy purposes.
Health
Source: Ponti ex Internal Research, July 2009
Lead Engagement Strategies: Health
In the health vertical, iGuard used marketing leads to educate consumers about prescriptions, while Gold’s Gym
engaged marketing leads at multiple touchpoints to increase new members at locations across the country.
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8. Entertainment
Source: Ponti ex Internal Research, July 2009
Lead Engagement Strategies: Entertainment
The critically acclaimed documentary I.O.USA used marketing leads to build a community of fans in the months
leading up to the release of the movie. Blockbuster engaged acquired leads via an e-newsletter and mobile apps
to promote their 14-day free trial.
Online Retail and Catalog
Source: Ponti ex Internal Research, July 2009
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9. Lead Engagement Strategies: Retail and Catalog
Retail marketers are usually more focused on direct marketing. The generally accepted best practice in the retail
industry is to keep the initial costs low to maximize ROI. As a result, most marketers collect only basic elds in the
retail segment. Then, they engage leads through repeat mailings to maximize ROI.
Coldwater Creek used CPL advertising to build a list of interested consumers that signed up to receive catalogs
from the premier apparel brand. Online retailer NewEgg used CPL advertising to build a list that they could email
product and season speci c discounts to.
The Direct Marketing Association estimates the ROI from an email address to be $43.52, while noted direct
marketing expert Stan Rapp estimates it to be as high as $118.
Technology
Source: Ponti ex Internal Research, July 2009
Lead Engagement Strategy: Technology
eFax used marketing leads to drive adoption of its free fax service, while Samsung used marketing
leads to keep potential customers updated about upcoming product launches.
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10. Research Methodology
The Ponti ex CPL Benchmark Study was compiled for the time period August 1, 2008 to July 31, 2009 across a
sample of 709 publisher websites. The leads for campaigns included in the report were non-incentivized, opt-in
and purchased on a Cost-per-Lead pricing model. The consumer sample includes adults 18+ in age who live in
North America. Data for this report was compiled from campaigns that had a minimum spend of $5,000 over the
aforementioned one year time period. The lead data in this report does not account for the recent adoption of
CPL advertising by emerging media. Please note that the CPL for these media may be higher or lower than the
data included in the report depending on intent, content and media type.
About Ponti ex
Ponti ex o ers advertisers a single point of connection to the entire performance advertising market. Through
Ponti ex, advertisers can run ads on websites, social networks and mobile apps, and connect to the right people
no matter where they are.
Ponti ex enables advertisers to run ads on a Cost-per-Lead (CPL) pricing model. Advertisers pay only for people
that have signed up for their advertisements, and not for wasted clicks or impressions.
Advertisers engage acquired consumers in a variety of ways. Examples of engagement vehicles include the 2008
Barack Obama Presidential Campaign e-newsletter, the Graco Nation community site and the Kimberly–Clark
“Enjoy the Ride” loyalty program.
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