Why Your Cost Per Lead Might Be Higher Than Expected

If you're a professional in the rental housing industry, you might be wondering why your cost per lead (CPL) is increasing, even though you're ramping up your marketing efforts.

It's a common misconception that more marketing should lower the cost per lead, but it's a bit more complicated than that. Let's break it down.

The Reality of Increasing CPL

When you start increasing your marketing spend, you might initially see a boost in leads. However, over time, you reach a point where the return on investment starts to diminish. This happens because the most responsive prospects have already been captured, and what's left are those who are harder to engage and convert, which costs more.

Audience Saturation

As you continue targeting the same audience, they get exposed to your ads repeatedly. This repeated exposure can lead to a decrease in engagement and conversion rates, as the audience becomes saturated. 

For example, think about how often you see the same commercial on TV or the same ad on YouTube. At first, you might pay attention, but after seeing it multiple times, you start to ignore it. This is what happens when an audience becomes saturated. Each additional dollar spent results in fewer new leads, increasing your overall CPL.

Quality vs. Quantity

It's crucial to remember that not all leads are the same. Higher marketing spend often means a mix of high and low-quality leads. Without proper lead qualification and nurturing processes, your leasing team might spend valuable time on low-quality leads, increasing the cost per lease.

Strategies to Manage CPL

Optimize Lead Qualification: Use Rentsync solutions and other available tech to help qualify leads more effectively. For instance, add custom fields to your auto-email responders and tours booking form fields. By asking the right questions upfront, you get the initial information needed to decide if a lead should move forward through the leasing funnel. Website chatbots can also help pre-qualify leads to a certain extent​

Improve Website Conversion: Enhance your website's conversion rate by updating images and videos, creating engaging content, and using interactive tools to keep prospects engaged​.

Layered Marketing Strategies: Combine organic and paid search strategies. Organic content like blogs and social media can warm up leads before they reach your paid campaigns, ensuring your ads target more qualified prospects.

Expand Creative Angles and Offers: Continuously test new ad creatives and offers to appeal to different audience segments. This keeps your campaigns fresh and effective, maintaining a steady flow of quality leads at a controlled cost​.

Data-Driven Decisions: Use analytics to track what works and what doesn’t. This helps reallocate your budget effectively, spending on channels and strategies that bring the best return on investment.

Understanding why your CPL might be rising helps you develop better strategies. By focusing on lead quality, enhancing your website, and using a layered marketing approach, you can manage your CPL more effectively. The goal is to improve the quality and conversion rate of your leads, ensuring sustained growth and efficiency in your marketing efforts.