2026 B2B Benchmark · Finding 02 of 08
LinkedIn turned $1 of lead-gen spend into $10.20 of pipeline.
Google Ads returned 3.95x, Facebook 3.11x, Instagram 1.8x.
153 advertisers, $57.6M of 2025 spend, CRM pipeline for 90 of them
Sourced pipeline per $1 of lead-gen spend, by channel
What to do with it
Do
Fund LinkedIn lead-gen campaigns first. It is the one channel that returned more than $4 of pipeline per $1.
Test
Give Google Ads a pipeline target instead of a lead target. 3.95x per $1 on $524 leads is a different business from LinkedIn.
Do not assume
That the cheapest lead is the best lead. Instagram sold the cheapest lead, $138, and sourced the least pipeline.
The numbers
| Channel | Cost per lead | Pipeline per $1 |
|---|---|---|
| $202 | 10.2x | |
| Google Ads | $524 | 3.95x |
| $145 | 3.11x | |
| $138 | 1.8x |
153 advertisers, $57.6M of 2025 spend, CRM pipeline for 90 of them. Pipeline is the value of opportunities the CRM credits to an ad-generated lead.