MarketinGO

    The MarketinGO Blog

    Paid media strategies, benchmarks and playbooks for B2B pipeline and DTC revenue.

    What is a good cost per lead? The formula, the 2026 benchmarks, and the number your margin actually allows

    What is a good cost per lead? The formula, the 2026 benchmarks, and the number your margin actually allows

    Cost per lead is total spend divided by leads generated. The useful question is not what the average CPL in your industry is, but what your own economics allow: gross profit per customer multiplied by your close rate is your break-even cost per lead, and a good CPL sits 20% to 30% below it. Here is the formula, the 2026 benchmark tables, the reason two respected datasets disagree by up to 6x for the same industry, and when a rising CPL is the best news in the account.

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    11 best PPC agencies in 2026, ranked by verifiable results

    11 best PPC agencies in 2026, ranked by verifiable results

    Most rankings of the best PPC agencies rewrite the same directory blurbs. This one opened every agency's case studies and checked whether the numbers hold up.

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    Break-even ROAS: how to calculate the number that decides every bid

    Break-even ROAS: how to calculate the number that decides every bid

    Break-even ROAS is the return on ad spend at which advertising stops losing money. The formula everybody publishes uses gross margin and understates the real floor by more than 80% on a typical store. Here is the version that includes fees, fulfilment and returns.

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    Google Performance Max campaigns: what they optimise, what you can control, and what changed in 2026

    Google Performance Max campaigns: what they optimise, what you can control, and what changed in 2026

    Performance Max stopped being a black box some time in 2025, and most advice about it has not caught up. Here is what the campaign type optimises for, every control that exists today, what the reporting now exposes, and the two 2026 changes that quietly moved the numbers in live accounts.

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    LTV to CAC ratio: how to calculate it, what good looks like, and why it decays as you scale

    LTV to CAC ratio: how to calculate it, what good looks like, and why it decays as you scale

    The LTV to CAC ratio divides customer lifetime value by customer acquisition cost. Here is how to calculate both halves properly, what the 3:1 rule really says in its original source, why CAC payback period is the sturdier number, and why the ratio decays as you scale spend.

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    Customer acquisition cost: how to calculate CAC when your ad platforms count conversions, not customers

    Customer acquisition cost: how to calculate CAC when your ad platforms count conversions, not customers

    Customer acquisition cost is total sales and marketing spend divided by new customers acquired. Here is how to calculate CAC from ad platform data that counts conversions instead of customers, the break-even number your margin implies, and where the 3:1 LTV to CAC rule actually came from.

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    Marketing efficiency ratio: how to calculate MER and when to steer on it instead of ROAS

    Marketing efficiency ratio: how to calculate MER and when to steer on it instead of ROAS

    MER is total revenue divided by total marketing spend. Here is the formula, what a good marketing efficiency ratio looks like by revenue stage, the break-even number your margin implies, and the rule for deciding when to act on MER instead of platform ROAS.

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    ROAS formula: how to calculate return on ad spend correctly

    ROAS formula: how to calculate return on ad spend correctly

    Return on ad spend is one division, and almost everyone gets the inputs wrong. Here is the ROAS formula, what the number means, the four ROAS figures a single account can produce, and the percentage-versus-ratio trap in Google's target ROAS field.

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    11 best PPC agencies for SaaS, ranked by pipeline not clicks

    11 best PPC agencies for SaaS, ranked by pipeline not clicks

    A practitioner's comparison of 11 PPC agencies for B2B SaaS, with the channels each runs, the trials and pipeline they can prove, and the type of SaaS each is built for.

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    11 best Meta Ads agencies for ecommerce, ranked by profitable scale

    11 best Meta Ads agencies for ecommerce, ranked by profitable scale

    A practitioner's comparison of 11 Meta Ads agencies for DTC ecommerce, with the way each runs Facebook and Instagram, the results they can prove, and the brand each is built for.

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    Best Google Shopping agencies for ecommerce, ranked by feed and profit

    Best Google Shopping agencies for ecommerce, ranked by feed and profit

    A practitioner's comparison of 11 Google Shopping agencies for ecommerce, with the feed and Performance Max approach each runs, the ROAS and revenue they can prove, and the type of online store each is built for.

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    11 best LinkedIn Ads agencies for B2B, ranked by pipeline not clicks

    11 best LinkedIn Ads agencies for B2B, ranked by pipeline not clicks

    A practitioner's comparison of 11 LinkedIn Ads agencies for B2B, with the account structure each runs, the pipeline and cost per lead they can prove, and the type of company each is built for.

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    What is a good ROAS in 2026? Benchmarks and the profit math

    What is a good ROAS in 2026? Benchmarks and the profit math

    A practitioner's guide to what a good ROAS actually is in 2026: benchmarks by channel and industry, the break-even math that decides your real target, and why the headline number matters less than the profit underneath it.

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    11 best Bing Ads agencies in 2026, checked against Microsoft's own data

    11 best Bing Ads agencies in 2026, checked against Microsoft's own data

    Most Bing Ads agency lists repeat partner claims nobody checked. This one ranks 11 agencies against Microsoft's own partner directory, names the tier each one actually holds, and flags the CPC statistic the whole category quotes without a source.

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    Google Ads audit: the 12-point checklist that finds wasted spend

    Google Ads audit: the 12-point checklist that finds wasted spend

    A practitioner's Google Ads audit checklist: the 12 checks that find wasted spend in a live account, the order that stops you fixing the wrong thing first, and what the 2026 automation changes mean for the review.

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    PPC management pricing in 2026: what you should pay

    PPC management pricing in 2026: what you should pay

    Most PPC pricing guides are written for agencies deciding what to charge. This one is written for the person paying the invoice: real 2026 fee ranges, the four models compared, and a profit-based test for whether your fee is fair.

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    11 best B2B paid media agencies for SaaS and technology companies

    11 best B2B paid media agencies for SaaS and technology companies

    A practitioner's comparison of 11 B2B paid media agencies, with the channels each runs, the pipeline they can prove, and the type of technology company each is built for.

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    11 best ecommerce PPC agencies, compared by profit not clicks

    11 best ecommerce PPC agencies, compared by profit not clicks

    A practitioner's comparison of 11 ecommerce PPC agencies, with the channels each runs, the results they can prove, and the type of store each is built for.

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