- 4–8.5x
- Cheaper cost per lead on-platform
- ₹66
- Cost per lead, on-platform form
- ₹269–563
- Cost per lead, website destinations
- 36%
- Video beat carousel on cost per lead
The starting point
The account was sending paid traffic to website forms and judging performance on creative. Every campaign was being iterated on imagery and copy while the largest single variable — where the form actually lived — went untested.
Meta — measured
Paid social
Six campaigns ran against the same audience in the same window. The only structural difference between the cheapest and the most expensive was whether the lead was captured inside the platform or on the website. Creative format mattered too, but far less than destination.
- ₹66
- On-platform instant formmeasured
- ₹269
- Website, pixel conversionmeasured
- ₹311
- Website, video creativemeasured
- ₹483
- Website, carousel creativemeasured
- ₹563
- Website, weakest performermeasured
- ₹302
- Blended cost per lead across the accountmeasured
What actually drove it
Test the destination before testing the creative
Most accounts iterate endlessly on imagery while the form location goes unquestioned. Here the destination was worth more than every creative variable combined.
Remove the steps between interest and submission
An on-platform form pre-fills known fields and never leaves the app. A website form asks for a page load, a scroll and a full manual entry. Each of those is a place people leave.
Judge creative formats against each other, not in isolation
Video beat carousel by 36% on identical targeting. That is a useful signal precisely because everything else was held constant.
Accept the trade-off consciously
On-platform leads are cheaper but arrive with less context and need faster follow-up. The right answer depends on whether the sales process can absorb higher volume at lower qualification.
How these numbers were produced, including where they are estimates
- Figures are taken from a Meta Ads export for the account's lifetime.
- This was a small account by media weight. Present it as a structural testing insight, not as proof of performance at scale.
- The data is from 2023 and Indian media costs have risen materially since. The ₹66 figure is not a rate available today and is not offered as one. What transfers is the ratio between on-platform and off-platform capture, not the absolute cost.
- These are lead submissions, not sales. No revenue or return on ad spend figure is claimed.
- Client name withheld. The account is no longer active.